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acourtofsnakes · 3 years ago

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More Than Diamonds or Gold, chapter 1 || The Thief x Reader

Summary: For the greatest thief in the world, no mark is too big, or too small. Anything that catches his eye is something to be taken. And he’s never had any trouble. Until he meets you.

A/N: Here we are! Thought I’d finally join the Casillero del Diablo train. New miniseries inbound! I have double checked this, so sorry for any mistakes! Feel free to let me know.

Warnings: Some swearing, knife play, little sexual tension. Nothing much, we’re just getting started.

Word Count: 4.6k+

Permanent Taglist:

@greeneyedblondie44 @mamacitapascal @mypedrom @undiscovered-misunderstood @kaylee-krystal @queenofthefaceless @gallowsjoker @kirsteng42 @rosiefridayrogersunday @salome-c

Masterlist | More Than Diamonds or Gold Masterlist

Over the years, he’d been called many things.

Scoundrel, pest, criminal, but his personal favourite was ‘The Greatest Thief in the World.”

It was true.

He was the greatest thief in the world.

He’d stole everything from everyone.

From kings and queens, from empresses, from world leaders and monsters alike. Those stories went along with the nicknames too. How he had stolen diamonds from the most secure safes on the planet, how he’d taken paintings from the Louvre in between one viewing and the next. He’d even stolen a crown off the British queen’s head at her own Christmas party.

They even said he’d stolen from the Devil.

That was ridiculous. Would you steal from the Devil?

There was nothing he wouldn’t try, no mark he deemed too difficult. This was his passion, his calling.

He had come from nothing, dragged himself on his knees through until he could rise to his feet and glide into halls of marble and stone, adorn his body with the most lavish of materials, fill his home with halls and halls of art.

And that’s what he had done.

His castle was his pride and joy… It was just always missing that little sparkle.

A very particular sparkle.

The Eclipse diamond.

A stone of deepest, purest black, darker than the night and just as rich. The onyx hued stone had its own light, a glint coming deep from within.

The only time it showed any flare was when the light hit it at just the right angle, so the beams hit the corner of the stone and fractured within, turning the inky carbon to a milky night sky, edged with a white flash.

And he knew just where it was meant to be.

~~~

Location: The manor house on the edge of town.

The Event: The birthday of the Baron’s beloved daughter.

The Time: 8:00pm until 12:00pm.

The Mark: The Baron has no wife, she previously passed away so it’s most likely the daughter will be wearing the diamond.

The Plan: Get into the ball, steal whatever from the rich folk’s pockets, locate the diamond, get out.

Oh, and have a little fun first.

~~~

The party was in full swing, music pouring from every corner of the room, mingling with the myriad of laughter and chatter.

Everywhere you looked, there were the tailored lines of suits, the elegant sweep of ball gowns. The glitter of diamond encrusted rings and the tick of expensive watches.

A ball, held at your home by your father in honour of your birthday.

And you hated it.

You sipped from your glass, a saccharine smile on your lips that no one seemed to realise was false.

God, these balls were incredibly boring.

A room full of stuffy people who were more interested in who was watching them than what they were actually saying. You craved excitement and thrill, dreaming for the chance to escape this frivolity and go and have some real fun – with a little danger thrown in too.

Sighing through your nose, you turned away from the people you were with, politely excusing yourself and then walking away.

You looked out across the crowds in your family’s ballroom, admiring the painstakingly decorated ceiling the gilding on the walls and the crystal chandeliers.

You wondered just how much of your home’s objects would go missing tonight.

They always did.

The flowing skirt of your dress hissed softly over the floor as you slipped in and around people, seeking a moment of solace.

Perhaps you should head to one of the man balconies that overlooked the sprawling gardens.

As you moved toward the balcony doors, you sensed a presence to the right, “Forgive me if I’m wrong, but shouldn’t the birthday girl look a little happier at her own party?”

A rich voice, as smooth as honey with and underlying rasp that slid over your bones and called to you.

Turning to face the owner of this voice, you suddenly found your breath stolen.

Saints above, he was utterly beautiful.

Tall in an understated way, with broad shoulders covered in a richly embroidered velvet jacket. A strong jaw was scattered with facial hair, which trailed up over his top lip. The hair was sprinkled with a few silver hairs, giving him a mature appearance. His skin was tan and smooth, save for the little crinkles at the corner of his eyes – which were such a deep brown you wondered if melted chocolate got jealous.

That’s what you wondered? Maybe you’d had too much champagne.

The crinkles were due to the smile on his plush lips, an air of amusement dancing over his face. Those deep eyes twinkled with that same humour; his head slightly cocked as he gazed down at you.

You regained yourself quickly, tilting your head the same way, “What makes you believe I’m not having fun?” You arched a brow, your voice lilting and almost… playful toward this handsome stranger.

He straightened his head, lifting a hand to rub over his chin and those dark eyes danced lightly over your face, and then unabashedly over your body – pausing for a second longer at your throat and what glittered there.

Ah, the one thing you treasured the most in this house. A gift from your grandmother before she passed, handed down throughout the generations.

The Eclipse Diamond, the rarest diamond in existence. It was contained within a beautiful necklace, resting at the hollow of your throat and bordered by seven normal diamonds either side – the stars in the eternal dark sky.

Every night, it was locked away in the deepest safe in the house, a safe to which only you knew the location and only you knew the code.

It wasn’t that you didn’t trust your family other members of you household... Well. It was.

Your grandmother had given you the location and code of the safe, and she was the only other person alive who knew about it. Now it was just you.

Your father had asked for it many times, purely just so he could know if anyone tried to steal it, but you’d politely declined. The number of thieves that had snuck through the walls were little to none, with only the very best making it past the defences of the house e but no further than the foyer.

You’d yet to experience the handiwork of “The Greatest Thief in the World’ and you had to say, you were a little disappointed he hadn’t shown.

You shook your head slightly to clear it and come back to the present, noting that the stranger’s eyes had since returned to your face, “your smile… Everyone ere believes it to be genuine, but only those who truly know you would see it’s forced. There’s no light in your eyes, no spark of enjoyment.” He moved a slight step closer, “You’d rather be somewhere else, than in this room full of people who pay more attention to what others think of them.”

Weird. That’s exactly what you thought earlier.

You regarded him for a moment, allowing him that step closer only because it made your blood heat deliciously, “And are you one of those people?”

His lips twitched up into another grin, a darker one that made his eyes flame like smoke on the water, “Oh, no. I’m just here to dance with the most beautiful girl in the room.” HE extended a hand toward you elegantly, a hand littered with three glittering rings.

You rolled your eyes, unable to stop the laugh bubbling from your chest, “Really? That’s the best line you can come up with?”

He chuckled softly, a rasp in that silken honey baritone, “I can’t use it all up in one go. I have to woo you for the whole night, not just in the first conversation.” He wiggled his fingers enticingly.

You eyed them, your brow furrowing slightly in thought, “Most men would jump at the opportunity to ‘woo’ me in one conversation, so they can brag about it all night.”

Take his hand.

Your handsome stranger only sketched into a slight bow, one arm behind his back, “I prefer a more challenging approach.” He peered up at you through thick lashed, his eyes and smile seeming to call to you like a siren, begging you to join him and turn this stuffy night into one worthy of a birthday girl.

You pondered only for a few seconds more, then with a playful, suffering sigh, you deposited your drink on a passing tray and slid your hand into his. “One dance. If you want a challenge, I won’t make it easy for you.”

His hand was warm and firm as he enclosed it around yours, but not before pressing a kiss to your knuckles, “Challenge accepted, mi tesoro.”

And then he whisked you away to the centre of the dance floor in a cloud of expensive cologne and rich laughter.

~~~

Four dances later, and you were starting to have an incredibly good night.

Your mysterious stranger could move, really move, and had been whirling you around the centre of the dance floor like he was born to do it.

It had drawn quite the crowd, people gathering at the edges of the floor to watch the birthday girl dance with this handsome man.

Not to be outdone, you unleashed that part of you which you usually kept hidden for nights alone and parties with friends.

You let the rhythm fuel your blood, let it call to your heart and change its beat. The music became your oxygen, the rise and fall of the music the gravity you were tethered to.

Your stranger moved with you, keeping up but he couldn’t take those dark eyes off you, watching the graceful lines and sweeps your body made.

He didn’t look away, even when countless other women – and men – vied for his attention. It was yours, and yours alone.

And it was still yours now, when you moved to a slower beat, one hand on his shoulder and the other outstretched and held within his.

“So, where did you learn to dance like that?” He had his head tilted down to yours slightly, creating a little bubble of atmosphere that kept everyone else at bay.

His gaze on you was a warm weight, reassuring and curious, yet also made you feel like you were flying loose in the sky.

You looked up at him, swaying easily in a slow circle, “My grandmother… She used to take me to lessons when I was a child, much to my father’s horror.” You laughed softly, eyes growing misty as you recalled those times, “He would rather I did something more traditional like… ballet, I suppose. But my grandmother saw the same fire in me that she had, and knew it needed to be brought out rather than tamed.”

The man nodded, inclining his head softly, “You sound close with her… Like she’s special to you.” His voice had grown more hushed, more intimate as you held each other in this private slice of reality.

Your smile changed into something more bittersweet, a little shimmer of pain in your heart, “I was… She was my best friend, in a way. I would tell her everything…” You sighed a little, tracing your fingertips over the embroidery on the man’s shoulder, noticing him shiver faintly, “She died a few years ago… I miss her but I try to make her proud, every day.”

The man’s chocolate eyes had softened as you told him about your grandmothers passing, and he squeezed your hand gently, “I’m sorry… Truly, I am.” He leant his head in a little closer, “But if it isn’t too bold of me to say, I think you would have made her incredibly proud with the way you’re moving tonight.” The hushed tone made his voice raspier and slid down your spine in the most delicious way.

You laughed a little, rolling your eyes playfully even as that tingle heated your blood, “You really are up for a challenge, aren’t you? And incredibly brave.” You arched a brow at him, goosebumps rising on your skin at the slight press of his body into yours.

The stranger tipped his head back, honey brown curls dancing over his forehead as he let out a laugh of his own, “I think some may call it stupidity.” He dropped his head to look back at you, his eyes moving to your throat, and he blinked, head cocking as if he had only just noticed what lay there, “Is that – Is that the Eclipse Diamond?”

You looked down as if you could see it there with a nod, “Yeah, it is… it was my grandmothers. She gave it to me just before…” you swallowed, making the jewels bob and then you looked back up at him. “It was hers.”

His smile softened again as he admired the stones, “It’s stunning… I thought no one knew where it was, that it was lost.”

It was your turn to give a soft laugh, shaking your head, “No... We’ve always had it. It was passed through my grandmothers’ family for generations… It’s incredibly precious. I never take it off.” You sighed a little, rolling your yes, “Though, many have tried to take it off for me. It’s been the mark of many a thief for centuries. Clearly, the stones are too beautiful not to draw in even the most inexperienced fool.

The gentleman’s eyes flickered with something at you words but it was gone as soon as it came. He leant his head in – and it was then you realised just how close you were, “they are nothing compared to you.”

The words were a whisper above the music, and you found yourself tilting your head up to hear him, and to draw closer to those plush lips.

“Another line you use on all your girls?” The faint sarcastic edge of your words was diminished by the tremble that ran through them, the stutter in your breath as you watched his gaze fall to your mouth.

“Only the ones that make me want to commit crimes just to get close to you. Only the ones that I haven’t been able to stop looking at tonight and wish that we were the only two in the room.” His hand slid further across the small of you rack, splaying out and making you arch up into him.

You yielded only too willingly, tipping your head back so your lips just brushed his, felt his breath skitter over your face –

And then the music ended, the sound of your father’s voice echoing across the room to give thanks for the evening and to begin sending everyone home.

The pair of you jumped, leaning back from each other and realising that time had not in fact stopped.

You flushed faintly, disappointment running heavily through your blood as you watched your stranger run his tongue over his lower lip, as if chasing that brief taste of you.

He sighed softly, reluctantly letting you go, “I suppose this is where my bravery ends…”

Your hands slide down his chest, and then gradually lowered to your sides, “But perhaps not for long. I’m sure you have a little more left in you to try and win me over.”

The thought of being parted from this heady mystery forever… it hurt.

He smiled, a twitch of lips just for you, his gaze heated and full of promise, “Oh, I have a lot more left in me.” He lifted a hand, caressing your cheek with the backs of his knuckles, “I want to see what else you can dance to.”

Heat licked through your bones, and you leant into his touch unabashedly, “until next time then…” His scent lingered on your skin; you could smell it.”

“Until next time, mi tesoro.”

~~~

This place was by far one of the richest eggs he had cracked open.

And the staff… Well, they were surprisingly easy to manipulate.

A caress and a smile to a lady in wait informed him that the north-east corridor was off limits, that he should head down the south corridor if he wanted to reach the library where he had been asked to check out some antique books.

Low and behold, a quick distraction of a cook who had seen a ghost allowed him the chance to slip into the north-east corridor and into the room at the end.

Te encontré.

A hulking great safe, fitted with three locks and a state of the art ‘anti-theft’ system.

Ten minutes later, he was slipping through the darkened corridor once more, his pockets considerably lighter.

Back to manipulating the staff. And back to what he really came here for. Because if it wasn’t in the safe, he knew exactly where it would be.

“I never take it off. Ever.”

A fat ruby and a handful of notes in the butlers pocked gave him the information that the baron’s daughter slept in the West wing, but she would be sleeping now and to drop any books off outside her door and he would inform her that her suitor had come to all.

He hadn’t even noticed that the thief’s pockets were heavy with jewellery and gems, that his inner jacket pockets were lined with stacks of cash and leases to new estates across the country.

It was almost too easy.

Still, he was never one to turn down an opportunity.

He slipped into the room, his expensive leather shoes making no noise on the polished wood floor.

The door shut behind him with a barely audible click, and he immediately began searching the room, warm chocolate eyes probing the shadows for any hint of that diamond necklace which had called to him like a siren.

He moved further into the darkened room, noting a towering bookcase, full of stories and other worlds, an ornate gilded mirror leaning against the wall and a lavish four poster bed.

The covers drawn back messily, as if - as if the owner was no longer asleep.

He froze, his body stilling like a predator sending danger.

Where were you?

He swore softly under his breath, a quickly hushed curse in his native tongue and he scanned the room again, wishing it wasn’t so dark.

And then a shaft of moonlight shifted, drawing his attention to the corner of the room.

But... There was nothing there.

He frowned, turning his head but then the air stirred behind him and there was the sudden press of cool steel against his throat.

A knife.

“You have a lot of bravery sneaking into a lady’s room at night.”

Shit.

There you were. Holding a knife to his throat, a hand on his shoulder and your body pressed up behind him yet again. He could feel the heat of you through his clothes, smell the gentle aroma of that perfume – at odds with the threat of the blade against his skin.

Think. Think.

He held his hands up, ignoring the fact his fingers sparkled with the bejewelled rings he had slipped onto them before exiting the main safe downstairs. “I recall you calling me as such when we were dancing.”

A soft laugh, like a whisper gliding over his ears, “Some might call this stupidity instead of bravery. What if there had been guards on the door?”

The thief swallowed, an instinct at having the foreign object against his windpipe, “You gave me the impression of a girl who wouldn’t allow such… overreactions.”

You hummed thoughtfully, tilting the blade against his skin so the sharp edge caught at his skin – not causing any damage, just something to make sure he knew you were in control.

And God, he fucking loved it.

Who knew he’d evidently have a thing for knife pay? And he’d been on the receiving end of a lot of them.

“You’re right, surprisingly. I guess it’s your lucky night then, isn’t it?” You finally removed the blade, the stirring in the air and the soft pads on the floor telling him you had moved across the room, dropping down into the armchair.

“In more ways than one, mi tesoro.” He lowered his arms back to his sides, scanning the room quickly again – still no diamonds.

The mon streamed through the crack in the curtains, drawing his attention to wear you resided in the corner of the room.

The milky glow illuminated a foot at first, hanging delicately in the air due to the crossed leg, sweeping up to thighs half covered with a silky nightgown.

He tracked those legs to a torso, reclined against the armchair with ease, then an elegant sweep of a throat - missing its diamonds. You said you never took them off, so where were they?

He lifted his gaze to your face, the same beautiful features he’d been looking at all night.

Taunting, kissable lips, features as if painted by one of the many artists who lined his walls as home.

Eyebrow arched, lips twitching into a smirk, those capturing eyes dancing with humour. Humour at his expense.

Like… Like you were waiting for him to ask something. .

Fuck.

He opened his mouth to speak but you cut him off - “Looking for this?”

Your eyes moved to your hand and that’s when he noticed it.

His siren call.

That damn diamond necklace, dangling from your outstretched fingers and dripping with lavish expense.

His eyes narrowed, “How did you know?” The redo of his voice barely disturbed the quiet atmosphere, warning a faint shiver across your shoulders - which he couldn’t help but look at, the thin straps of your nightgown dangling from your arm.

You laughed, a soft, rich laugh that made his blood heat in his veins, “You think I didn’t notice you staring at it all night? You dance a good dance, sir,” Your lips formed the word in a purring taunt they made everything south of his waist tighten inexplicably, “But I’m not stupid. You aren’t the first to come after my jewels. Men who try and charm my like that either want my fortune, or something else entirely.”

“But I bet I’m the first to come into your bedroom.” His plush lips lifted into a smirk of their own as he straightened the cuffs of his embroidered jacket.

Dark humour glittered in your eyes, far more beautiful than the jewels in your hand, “If that’s want you want to believe, I won’t change your mind.”

His brows furrowed slightly, an unwarranted feeling searing through his chest.

Jealousy.

Another soft laugh left those taunting lips, “My my, are you jealous? Jealous of the fact I might have had thieves other than you come into this room looking for something to steal?”

He bared his teeth slightly, turning his head away from your ethereal form, and he stalked across the room, if only for a reprieve from everything he wanted to do – which ironically didn’t include stealing diamonds.

You still weren’t done, “I have to admit though. You certainly are the most handsome thief that’s come into my bedroom. They all said you were handsome, but the stories don’t do you justice. You’re stunning.”

He looked over his shoulder at you, “Now who’s using cheap lines?” Cheap lines that most certainly didn’t make a thrill go through his chest. He picked up the book on your bedside table, reading the back cover with genuine interest. You could tell a lot about a person by what they liked to read.

“Just stating the facts, I think we owe each other that, no? You are, after all, a thief in my home.”

He could hear your smile from over here, every bone in his body screaming at him to go to you.

He didn’t even know you, even if it felt like he did. He should have snatched that necklace from your hand and already been halfway home.

But he wasn’t. He was still here, still in your room in your taunting, tempting presence.

“If you knew I wanted to steal your diamonds, why didn’t you call that guards at the party?”

You examined your jewels, running a thumb over the flawless surface, “Who says I haven’t already?” The moonlight caught the edge of the diamond, making it flare in that utterly unique way.

Yet… It paled in comparison to you.

“What are you talking about?” He looked at you in confusion, still clutching your book in his hands. What were you talking about?

Then he heard it, alarmed calls and shouting from the men outside, “Upstairs!! Quick, move, move, move!”

Wicked thing.

You were playing with your diamonds, a smirk on those lips and you regarded him with all the curiosity of a cat playing with a bird.

Oh, you’d done this on purpose.

He swore softly under his breath, shooting you a glance, “You call the guards on all the men in your room?” He scanned the room, looking for exits, settling on the balcony.

He remembered the way in, but that would be crawling with guards now.

It’d have to be down the balcony and the wall. Brilliant.

If he’d known he was going on a rock-climbing expedition, he wouldn’t have worn his best suit.

You rose from your chair, the silken nightgown shimmering down your body, hugging every curve, “You told me downstairs you wanted a challenge.” A glance to the clock on your nightstand, “You have two and a half minutes before the guards will reach my room and have you captured. I’d get going.” Then you seemed to deliberate for a moment, “I’d suggest taking the path into the East Garden. There’s a section of wall crumbling behind the oak tree. It’ll take you straight round the back of the grounds to the delivery entrance and you’ll be able to slip away.”

Groaning, he moved to the balcony, pushing back the curtains, pockets jingling with the goods he’d taken, “Why?” He looked back at you; brows furrowed. He wasn’t sure what he was asking, only that he needed an answer.

You lifted a shoulder in a graceful shrug, half your body in the shadow of the room, “You’re the greatest thief in the world, aren’t you? This shouldn’t be a problem.” You smiled sweetly, securing the diamonds back around your neck.

The thief frowned, half in, half out of the balcony door, “That’s not an answer and you know it.” The curtains billowed around him, and distantly, he heard shouting and hurrying footsteps.

But you were already turning around, running your hands through your hair, “A minute and forty-nine seconds.”

Muttering yet another curse in his native tongue, he cast a last glance at you and then bolted from the room.

He kept muttering to himself as he climbed down the balcony, dropped to the one below and eventually made his way into the garden.

He followed the winding path, pausing every now and then if he heard a shout nearby.

Beautiful, wicked creature.

He should have known you wouldn’t be an easy mark from the moment you danced with him. Anyone with that kind of fire in their belly wouldn’t just roll over and let him take whatever he wanted.

It wasn’t until he got to the crumbling walls behind the oak that he realised.

You were a siren call of your own.

A call that every bone, every cell in his body wanted to answer.

He let out a breath as he clambered over the wall, skulking along the shadows and slipping out of the delivery entrance.

Of course, you were.

The greatest thief in the world had stolen everything from crowns to rare art, fame to castles.

But now he found something he wanted more than any of that, more than the diamonds dripping from your fingers.

He wanted to steal your heart.

#who ever thought we'd be obsessed and writing about a wine commercial #the thief #the thief x reader #casillero de diablo #pedro pascal #pedro pascal x reader

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salvatoreschool · 5 years ago

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5 Reasons You Should Be Watching Legacies

October is, just objectively, the best month of the year. Exhibit A: Golden autumn leaves. Exhibit B: All things apple. Exhibit C: This gif. Exhibit D: Witches. Like, it’s just science.

Around these parts, though, the best best thing about October is, of course, the television. Yes, I’m talking spooky, kooky Halloween specials—love a good Halloween special—but also I’m talking fall premieres. Specifically, I’m talking The CW’s fall premieres, which have been landing in mid-October (later than most other broadcast networks) since at least the first season of Arrow.

This fall, the teen-skewing network’s biggest draws are, arguably, the series debuts of Batwoman (October 6th) and Nancy Drew (October 9th), and the final season bows of Arrow (October 15th) and Supernatural (October 10th). But while I’m professionally interested in seeing how all those premieres play out, the CW joint I’m most personally invested in getting back on my screen (also October 10th!) is Julie Plec’s supernatural boarding school double-spin-off teen drama series, Legacies.

Friends—you should be watching Legacies. I know there’s a lot of television out there, but really and truly, if you like television that likes being television (more on that in a minute), Legacies is absolutely worth tuning in to. Why? Well, let me just count the reasons:

1. You don’t have to do any television homework to join the fun.

Yes, TECHNICALLY Legacies is a hybrid spin-off of two different long-running Julie Plec series, The Vampire Diaries (eight seasons) and The Originals (five), and sure, technically it was in those series that the mythology driving the character arcs/motivations of Legacies’ most central leads, Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell) and Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis), was developed. After spending a cumulative thirteen seasons not just telling stories on television, but telling stories on television from this specific world, Plec’s ability to set efficient narrative groundwork under fast-moving vampire feet is nothing if not masterful. Genuinely, aside from a few single-episode cameos of side characters from Hope and Alaric’s TVD/Originals past, the only thing you need to watch to make sense of Legacies is this official promo for the first season:

youtube

…and honestly, most of that soliloquy, plus much more, is folded into the cold open of the series premiere, “This is the Part Where You Run,” which uses new lead Landon Kirby (Aria Shahghasemi) as audience avatar as he gets introduced to this particular supernatural world for the first time.

2. Two words: Julie. Plec.

That said, if you are familiar with Legacies’ double, er, legacy, you’ll get a kick out of how precisely Plec has taken her signature whip-fast storytelling and fitted it to a breezier, more “teen” setting, and how deftly she manages to weave in both key characters and core emotional beats from both her previous series.

The most obvious example of all of this is Matthew Davis’ Alaric Saltzman, who became such a fan favorite during his time as vengeful-vampire-hunter-turned-loyal-teen-vampire guardian-turned-rogue-vampire’s-best-friend on The Vampire Diaries that not only did Plec resurrect him from the (very truly) dead to keep Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) on the straight and narrow, but she then brought him on as co-lead of this series to do the same for every supernatural teen in the contiguous United States. Now, as both father to a pair of Gemini twin witches (Kaylee Bryant and Jenny Boyd) and mentor/father-figure to Hope, the teen witch-vampire-werewolf tribrid with a hero complex, Alaric gets to flex all the emotional muscles TVD fans know and love. Plus, as the Salvatore School’s headmaster, he also gets to take charge of the dramatic supernatural research and heroic (and/or chaotic) supernatural missions that are key to a Plec series’ fast-paced success. Beyond all of that, though, in positioning him as the central human adult foil to a whole pile of supernatural teen protagonists, Plec has also found a way to let him be funny, bringing a uniquely fun dynamic to the fast-moving monster drama of the TVD universe that hasn’t always gotten such pride of place.

In other words: Julie Plec, still running wild supernatural stories turned up way past 11.

3. Three words: Supernatural. Boarding. School.

One more time, in case that didn’t sink it: Supernatural. Boarding. School.

I really shouldn’t have to elaborate on this, but Legacies is set at the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young and Gifted, which is the school for young witches, werewolves, vampires, and Hope that was funded by Hope’s (dead) dad and is located at/on the Salvatore family’s Virginia estate, just outside Mystic Falls. All the moody opulence of Damon and Stefan’s TVD homebase, all the zingy, angsty tropes of great Teen TV.

More than just being a fun setting, though, the Salvatore School gives Legacies a chance to sprawl out and complicate the consequences of being a teenager consigned to eternity as part of the supernatural world. These consequences are still very real and very serious in Legacies, but while The Vampire Diaries mined dramatic tension from supernatural teens (or at least vampires who looked superficially like teens) living in dangerous proximity to human teens, its kid sibling series looks inside for its tension. The teens at the story’s core need, first and foremost, to find a way to come to terms with their own inhumanity, and what it means to be good as they define it. And honestly, after so many years of TVD stories focused on the former, spending time with a bunch of super compelling, super different supernatural kids working through the latter is just a treat.

4. A diverse cast and diverse stories

This leads directly into a key update to the TVD legacy: With such a sprawling cast of teen characters brought to the Salvatore School from all walks of life and corners of the country, Legacies gets to improve on one of the original series’ greatest weaknesses: A lack of diversity. While both Alaric and the three central female characters of Legacies—all carried over from the previous series—are still white, the characters that round out the rest of the new series’ core cast are not. On the adult side, Alaric is joined by faculty members Dorian Williams (Demetrius Bridges) and Emma Tig (Karen David), while on the teen side, Hope, Josie and Lizzie are joined by softie vampire MG (Quincy Fouse), activist vampire Kaleb (Chris Lee), reluctant alpha werewolf Rafael (Peyton “Alex” Smith), ex-alpha werewolf Jed (Ben Levin), bad girl with Penelope (Lulu Antariksa), and the audience avatar/mystery box supernatural mentioned above, Landon Kirby (Aria Shahghasemi). Nor is racial diversity the only benchmark hit with this large cast. In terms of queer representation, Josie is bi, with Penelope her ex/possible future girlfriend; in terms of class representation, Rafael and Landon are foster brothers who both have dark histories with the system.

Importantly, none of these measures of diversity are included just for show. Each character’s identity and background are as key to who they are within the heightened emotional context of the boarding school as their individual supernatural abilities. Kaleb’s experience as a young black man (and vampire) is markedly different from MG’s, which is markedly different from Dorian’s (who, to be fair, is also not a vampire). Josie and Penelope’s relationship is informed by their strengths (and weaknesses) as witches, and further informs how they each approach solving problems both social and magical. Landon and Rafael’s history, as thrown away kids whose only shelter was each other, drives every decision they make. That diverse identities should inform characters in these ways isn’t a surprise; that Legacies is embracing them all now after so many seasons of its parent series falling short is, if not surprising, then at least worth taking note of.

5. Finally: Legacies totally knows it’s a TV show.

This seems self-evident, but as pop culture critic Grace Robertson so sharply observed earlier this year in her essay “Let TV Be TV” (like, literally; the heading above is a direct quote), the best trick Legacies pulls isn’t even a trick. It’s just being good at being entertaining, episodic television.

In an era where a TV show can be anything from thirteen thirty-minute episodes (pick literally any prestige comedy) to dozens upon dozens of bite-sized Facebook posts (SKAM Austin) to an 18-hour art film (Twin Peaks: The Return), defining just what counts as television is practically a professional sport. Well, it’s a sport Legacies isn’t interested in playing. With both its new-to-the-TVD-verse Monster of the Week mode of storytelling and the Salvatore School as its comfortable, “fixed point” setting, Plec is even better at framing episodic stories than she was in her already rollicking previous series. In a television landscape so full of cinematic innovation, the freedom this old school “status quo” television model gives Legacies is, as Robertson notes, a huge relief.

So, yes: Legacies knows it’s a TV show, and it knows it’s a fun one. With the short first season currently streaming on Netflix, there is literally no better time to jump on the Legacies bandwagon than now. And I know it’s one I can’t wait to have back in my weekly rotation. All hail October.

Legacies Season Two premieres Thursday, October 10th on The CW.

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kaianimates · 1 year ago

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Gus in Any Sport in a Storm

Gus in Labyrinth Runners

#gus porter #gus toh #hunter toh #willow park #willow toh #toh fanart #the owl house #kaylee's art corner

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talistheintrovert · 6 years ago

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Happy International Women's Day! 💖

List your ten favourite female friendships on screen (or books!!!) In gifs (if its a book that will be hard but maybe put a link to someone’s fanart, cuz we dont steal art in this house.) And tag some people.

I was tagged by @thelittlefanpire and @musicnote902 and @hostagetakerandhistraitor and I adore this idea so, in no particular order:

1. Lorelai and Sookie

2. Rikki, Emma and Cleo

3. Ginny and Luna

4. Inara and Kaylee

5. Lizzy and Jane

6. Allison and Lydia

7. Veronica and Mac

8. Amy, Rosa and Gina

9. Donna and Rachel

10. Rebecca, Paula, Heather and Valencia

Listen, The 100 should be on this list but s5 really stomped all over Princess Mechanic so it's in the naughty corner until s6.

I'm tagging @clarkgriffon @chase-the-windandtouch-the-sky @fen-ha-fuck-you @anne-shirley-blythe @hopewolves @aainiouu @scottmcgivemeacall @eligius-pilot @bellamys11thfreckle @jmbelles @loveisalwayswise @chants-de-lune @grumpybell and anyone else who wants to do it!

#ask games #happy international woman's day #my faves #girl power

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glympsis · 6 years ago

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Soldier keep on marching on, Head down til the work is done. Waiting for the morning sun, Soldier keep on marching on Kaylee was fidgeting.

She had ridden her bike across town, the route still familiar despite the months it had been since she had followed it last. She had almost thought she would forget it on the way, but her bike had continued as though responding to a homing beacon only it could sense. She had turned on all the same corners, passed all the same stores, saw the same shopkeeps and workers that had been there before. She hadn’t stopped to talk to them, hadn’t even raised a hand to wave, her bike a thing possessed, the feeling stirring in her chest spurring her on.

She rode into the complex, her bike coming to a quick stop at the end of a walkway that looked like all the others. Gravel scattered before her wheels, skittering across the pavement and bouncing into the rain gutter, where it disappeared with a rain of clicks and pings.

There wasn’t a hint of anything being amiss, but there never was. Her lips twisted slightly in distaste as she pulled a headphone out of her ear and straightened, one sneaker placed on the ground for balance as she examined the door. The street beyond her headphones was silent, the only sound the rush of cars two blocks back, the dried leaves scraping the ground as the wind picked up, the grass whispering as it moved. The late autumn afternoon still had hints of summer, the only chill brought by the breeze as it accosted her hoodie before moving on to easier targets. A cat raced across the street a few houses down, but for that one creature, she was alone.

Frowning now, the black girl finally moved, swinging her leg over her bike and holding it firmly by the handlebars as she pushed it over the curb and onto the walking path. She deposited it unceremoniously in the grass beside the entrance, only glancing at it for a moment before examining the door again.

Raising a fist, she knocked twice, the sound loud in the otherwise stillness of the neighborhood. A hand came up and unclasped the strap across her chin, and she pulled her biking helmet off, running her hand through her braids a few times and shaking her head to get circulation back to her brain. The helmet was always tighter than usual when she had her braids in, and her scalp rejoiced in the ability to breathe again. She tossed the helmet toward her bike, not even, glancing at where it landed before knocking again, shifting her weight back and forth for a moment before pulling her phone out of her back pocket. Her deep brown eyes scanned the lighted screen and its flurry of notifications with a learned and efficient disinterest, not bothering to click the screen again before sliding it back into her pocket.

She could leave. She knew it in her bones. The message had been vague, and it hadn’t actually requested her presence. She knew that she could easily spin it that she’d missed it, that she’d been in one of her writing moods and hadn’t glanced at her phone in the last 24 hours. She did it all the time. But, she had glanced at her phone. She had seen the message. And there was a feeling deep in her gut that told her to be here. To check. And it would nag her the way it was now, as she hesitated before the door. It was the feeling that had spurred her out of the apartment she shared with Maggie, away from plans of movie night with the others. It was the feeling that had her pull her bike out of storage and bike here like she was still in college, instead of simply asking someone for a ride. It was the feeling that had her standing here, at the door, knowing without a doubt that she was going to go in, no matter how long she stalled. Maggie would tell her that she didn’t owe anyone anything, but Kaylee knew that if she left now, she’d never forgive herself for not checking. That was just how it was. She hadn’t hesitated the entire way here, why was she hesitating now?

The answer being, of course, that her brain had had time to catch up with her.

Her phone buzzed once, but the writer ignored it, instead finally pulling her keys out of her other pocket. She had a myriad of keys, golden and silver, powder blue and green, some with rubber grips in pink and red and orange. Her keychains varied as well, a Slytherin crest, a red phone booth, a tin owl and teacup. She had so many keys that people usually didn’t ask what they opened. Sometimes, she wished they would. Just to give her an excuse to get rid of some.

She almost thought he would have changed the lock, but he hadn’t. Of course not. He hated change that he could avoid.

So did she.

The key attached to the teacup slid home easily, the lock clicking with the ease of something new. The door swung inward, the golden sunlight of the late afternoon streaming into the otherwise dark apartment. Kaylee stepped in and slid the door closed behind her, not needing light to know where she was headed. Her fear of the dark was never active here.

First, she headed into the living room, beelining straight to the window. She pulled the curtains back, letting the light in, and when she turned back she could properly see. The couch was exactly where she remembered it, faded in all the same places, the TV silent and vacant without her gaming systems there.

Next stop was the kitchen. The sink and counters were clean but barren, and she was sure the fridge wouldn’t be much different. She pulled the blinds on the kitchen window as well. Slowly, she made her way back through the living room and into the hallway, sliding the lock on the front door home with a click before looking down the hallway toward the bedrooms. This, of course, was the tricky part. What if he wasn’t home? What if he had company?

The writer made a face, but continued down the hallway, passing the spare bedroom and bathroom, the dark hallway much less intimidating with the light from the living room.

She didn’t bother knocking. If he didn’t know she was there yet, he wasn’t home.

Slowly, she placed her palm on the door, then pushed in, stepping into the familiar smell and heat of Art’s bedroom. She didn’t spare a glance at the bed, instead beelining to the window, missing the movement of the blankets. She pulled the curtain back, letting the deep golden light of late afternoon stream into the room. When she turned back to the room, the bed had a noticeable lump, and the blankets had been yanked over the man’s head.

His room, at least, was neat. A sloppy room for Art was an entirely different meltdown.

Exhaling through her nose, Kaylee made her way to his side of the bed. Carefully wrapping her fingers around the edge of the blanket, she yanked the blanket down, not even noticing that as she did that the lump obscured by the covers was smaller than before. Now revealed, Art looked like shit. His hair was a mess, there were deep purple crescents beneath his eyes, and even with his eyes closed, he seemed to shrink away from the light. She was robbed of further examination by his arms wrapping around her and rolling her onto the bed with him, the man quickly pulling the blanket back over their heads before he opened his eyes. His hold loosened around her, and his gaze turned shocked.

“You’re not Chris.”

“Thanks for noticing.” Kaylee toned her voice level. Art, for his part, simply looked puzzled, his eyes tracing over her face. It smelled a lot like him under his blankets, and Kaylee found herself grateful that it didn’t smell like anything else. In this state, who knew the last time he’d washed his sheets.

The silence between them stretched, and she found that watching his expression change while he thought was making her uncomfortable, especially since she could read it.

“I take it you don’t remember texting me.” She said, unable to trace the relief that came when Art’s face went from wondering to mortified.

“Oh,” he said, throwing his head back and slapping his hand to his forehead. His other arm was still trapped beneath her side, or he would have put both hands there, as usual, she was sure. “Shit, Kaylee. I’m sorry. I had a really long assignment. I must have been too tired to delete it.”

“Delete it?” She echoed, tilting her head. Art turned pink.

“Yeah.” He said, having weighed his options and seemingly decided that truth was the best bet. “I still… have the reflex. Of texting you when I’m exhausted from work. Usually, I just delete it because… you know…” his words trailed off lamely, and Kaylee bit back a grin.

“But we’re still friends. If you need me, you know I’ll show up.”

“I know.” His voice, however, was full of wonder, and his hold on her tightened in a brief hug before he released her. “But I’m good. Honest.” She narrowed her eyes, and his eyes rolled skyward, before he held up a hand, two fingers pressed together, then spread his fingers in the Vulcan salute. “I swear on Senator Spock, okay?”

She was still suspicious, but the familiar move set her mind at ease. Not to mention that now that she was looking at him properly, he looked much better. His hair was still a mess, but his smile was genuine, and yes he was exhausted, but she must have imagined the bags beneath his eyes because they were gone.

She gave a huff and sat up, ignoring Art’s complaint as the blanket moved and he was assaulted by sunlight.

“Alright.” She said, swinging her feet back on the ground and missing the way his grin faltered as she moved away from him. “But I’m still ordering you your post-assignment pizza. Non-negotiable.”

The smile he gave her was blinding.

“You’re an angel, Kaylee.”

“Thousand eyes and all?”

“Thousand eyes and all.”

#u: lucky you #c: lucky me #c: pinky the red boy

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housefreak · 2 years ago

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[ID: digital art of a dilapidated wooden house, water surrounds it up to its foundations, and the house casts a long and warbled reflection on the water. A red sun cuts through the thick smoke billowing out of its chimney. The sky is orange, and several half submerged and leafless trees surround the house. text reading, "Jacob Geller, Art by Kaylee Rowena", is in the lower right corner /end ID]

i had the honor of making a poster for one of my favorite people on the internet, jacob geller! if you haven’t seen his video “control, anatomy, and the legacy of the haunted house” go watch it now. yes, right now. drop what you’re doing and watch this video.

you can buy a nice 18x24″ print of this drawing on jacob geller’s store!

#OBSESSED & i need it Right Now #haunted houses

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bigsciencybrain · 7 years ago

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House Log: Day 36 -

Oak trees drop more acorns than I could possibly have imagined. Sometimes they roll musically down the roof and ping off of the gutters, but mostly they’re annoying.

The squirrels have begun nesting in an attic space. As they are not rats and are unlikely to chew through my walls to eat my peaches, I’m adopting a live and let live strategy until spring. At that point, I will have them blocked out and the goddamn oak tree trimmed back so the furry little motherfuckers have to really want to make that leap.

Unexpected bills (heating oil WTF??? I was not prepared) mean waiting on furniture and stuff so I still have no couch and no area rugs. Dante doesn’t mind. He’s mastered the art of sliding around corners on the hardwood floors. Kaylee just stomps around like a small, angry, stompy old lady cat and refuses to come down the stairs.

I have yet to try my wood burning fireplace. Although, with the cost of heating oil, that may happen sooner rather than later.

It doesn’t really feel like it’s mine yet. And when I catch myself enjoying it, I have this weird knee jerk response of feeling guilty about enjoying it. IDEK on that but I’m assuming it’ll go away.

#life with a bigsciencybrain #house log

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tgfiction · 7 years ago

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Just Pretending (story)

Just Pretending By Varian Milagro

In a long line of extremely lame birthdays this one had to be one of the lamest. It wasn’t the lamest, that award defiantly went to my eighth birthday when not one of my ‘friends’ showed up. This one did not hit that much of a low, but it was exceedingly lame. No one had even remembered it. Well, my mom had given me a quick ‘Happy Birthday’ in the morning before I left for school, but it was pretty perfunctory. My dad had left by the time I had gotten up, but I doubted he would have said anything if he had been there.

I didn’t get a happy birthday from my sister Jenny either. She was five years my senior and had moved away for college and then stayed away. We’d always been close growing up so I was surprised when I didn’t even get so much as a text from her today. She was probably busy with wedding plans so I gave her a pass. She was marrying a guy named Zack whom she’d met at college. He had a nice job out east and that’s where they planned to setup shop after their wedding in three weeks. The wedding was being held at the ocean a few hours from my home, so at least I’d get to see her a few more times before she went back east again.

No one at school said a thing, not even my best friend Seth Johnson. Seth and I were attending a local community college together and had been friends since a few months after my disastrous eighth birthday. Since then I didn’t need to worry about no one attending a birthday party of mine since Seth and I were fairly inseparable. I couldn’t believe that he forgot as well. Seth and I had so much in common we had a similar style of humor and usually had each other in stitches over one of our many inside jokes. We were both died in the wool nerds and shared a love of games, both board and video, comics, anime, movies and soccer.

I first started playing soccer when I was in grade school. Being a three letter man in school my father wanted me in a sport of some kind. He had entered me into baseball, football, basketball and even hockey. Soccer was the only one I was even fairly passable at. I was too small for football, too short for basketball. I never got the hang of skating and I couldn’t hit the damn ball with the damn bat. I didn’t do that much better at soccer, but my dad insisted I play at least one sport. At least with soccer I could quickly pass the ball to someone else before I made too much of a fool of myself. I began to really enjoy it, but I’d always wished I could play better. I wanted to be an asset to my team. I wanted the members of my team to see me heading to the field and actually be happy about it.

I had talked Seth into playing soccer a few years back. Unlike me he was a natural; he took to it like a fish to water. He had this ability to see the whole field and had a sixth sense on where someone was going to be. He probably could be playing for a college team, but he had an aversion to coaches.

So, we found ourselves playing for a local co-ed league. It wasn’t highly competitive and most people were there to make friends and get some exercise. It still didn’t stop some of the guys from riding me when I made an especially bad play. They probably would have asked that I not come back, but Seth had made it clear early on that we were a package. If I quit playing then so would he and he was the best player on the team. So, they suffered me mostly in silence, but it still bothered me a lot. I felt like such a disappointment to my teammates and my father.

I was better at school thankfully. I wasn’t the best student, but I could get A’s if I tried really hard. Seth and I were both working on two year degrees before making the big leap to a four year school. Seth wanted to get into Computer Science at the University of Washington. I was unsure what I wanted to do ultimately, but I knew I wanted a four year degree of some kind. So, right now I was just working on an Associates of Arts degree. We both had the same Calculus class and English. But I had Humanities where Seth had a programming class and Spanish where he had computer science.

Another thing Seth and I shared was our total lack of girlfriends. We’d just never had any luck in that department. It seemed like any girl we liked always had a boyfriend or wanted to be ‘friends’

Seth and I had just pulled up to the soccer field about 15 minutes before the night’s game. After a lame day of feeling sorry for myself I wasn’t sure I could take the groans when I made a bad play, but it was too late now. Seth had driven so I was stuck till the end of the game; might as well get some exercise.

“Hang on for a moment Keith,” Seth said. He reached into the back seat of his car and brought forth a small box. He opened it and inside was a cupcake with a single, rather ornate candle. “Happy birthday buddy. You didn’t really think I forgot, did you?”

“The thought had crossed my mind,” I replied.

Seth handed the cup cake to me and grabbed a book of matches from the dashboard. “Okay, so make a wish and make it a good one, but you have to say it out loud. This is a real wishing candle and the wish won’t work unless you say it out loud.” Seth lit the candle.

“Real huh, Well, what I wish is that the team valued me, that they would be happy to see me when I show up, that I would make a real difference to the outcome of a game for once.” I blew out the candle.

“Wow, you could wish for anything and you want to be better at soccer? How about wishing for some money dude? Or a girlfriend at least; what a waste,” he chided.

We exited the car and grabbed out gear. As I sat on the car’s seat with the door open to change into my cleats I let out a groan as a terrible cramp hit my abdomen. It began to get worse. I cried out in pain as it moved from my middle and radiated throughout my body. I then had an intense Charlie horse in the muscles of my arms and legs. My hands and feet felt like they were being crushed. My face felt like I’d just got sucker punched.

“Are you all right Keith?” Seth said. He had come around the car and was standing next to me. He had a hand on my back. I was still doubled over.

It hit my crotch next; it was like getting kicked in the nuts. I thought I was going to vomit.

“Holy shit, what’s happening to you?” Seth said in a panicked voice. “Your hair, it’s growing. Jesus what’s going on?” Seth was no longer touching me and had stepped away from me.

Just as the pain began to subside from my face and extremities, I started to feel a tightness on my chest. My pecs were pushing against the material of my shirt. No it wasn’t my t-shirt; it was a garment under my t-shirt. When the cramps in my abdomen began to fade I opened my eyes to see a curtain of hair in front of my eyes. I looked up and pulled my hair away from my face to see a very bewildered Seth staring at me, mouth agape.

“My god, you’re a girl,” he said bewilderedly. “You just turned into a fucking girl right in front of me.” Seth seemed to gather his senses and stepped toward me and reached out a comforting hand, but stopped just shy of touching me. “Are you all right? Holy shit!”

I looked at Seth for a moment and then looked down at myself. My hair fell in front of my eyes again. I pulled back my hair and looked over my body. There was more to my chest. There were two distinct mounds where there had been nothing moments before; they looked a lot like breasts. My bare legs were much skinnier than before. My cleats were smaller. My hands were pretty small now as well.

“Keith, say something. Are you okay? Please talk to me,” pleaded Seth.

“What the fuck did you do to me?” I began. My voice was strange to my ears, much higher, much softer.

“That candle was supposed to grant you a wish, not turn you into a chick.”

“I need to go to the bathroom,” I said. I stood and noticed that I was a lot shorter than Seth now.

“Are you a girl everywhere?”

“I think so, but that is what I intend to find out.” I did not relish the idea of groping myself in front of Seth.

I headed toward the bathroom and nearly walked into the Men’s room. While I had not been able to fully ascertain my current state I figured, based on the weight on my chest and Seth’s reaction, the ladies room was the way to go.

The bathroom was empty, which was a blessing. I went straight to one of the ‘mirrors’. Being a public park restroom the mirror was brushed aluminum and not glass so it wasn’t the best. What I did see was a fairly attractive brunette with hair past her shoulders. I put a hand to my crotch and confirmed that I was indeed female. While I’d never touched a pussy before, I knew enough from the internet to know that I now possessed one. I reached up and felt my breasts and learned that they were currently confined by a sports bra. I started to peek, but then I heard female voices approaching and decided to finish my inspection later.

“Yes! It’s Kaylee!” Shouted Julie as she rounded the corner into the bathroom and took sight of me. She was with Lauren and they both were on my soccer team. “I’m going to tell the team we can play tonight.” Julie turned and sprinted out of the bathroom.

“I’m so happy to see you Kaylee,” said Lauren with a big smile on her face. “Ruth and Wendy couldn’t make it tonight. We thought that we were going to have to forfeit, but now that you’re here we can play.” Being a co-ed team we had to field at least five girls each game or we had to forfeit. We only had six girls total on the team and if two of them were out that week we weren’t allowed to play.

“Great. Glad I can help. I will see you out there.” As I left the restroom I remembered my wish; I’d wished to be valued by my team. My intention was to be a better soccer player like Seth, but apparently that is not what they valued most tonight. It’s pretty hard for a team to win a game when they aren’t even allowed on the field. I got my wish, but hardly the way I had expected.

I made it back to the car and Seth was back in sneakers. “Let’s get out of here. We can go to the store where I bought the candle and get you back into being a guy.”

“No, I want to play,” I replied.

“You can’t be serious,” he said.

“There are only four girls tonight. If we leave we’ll have to forfeit.”

“It’s only a game, Keith”

“I know, but the team is counting on me.” I grabbed my sports bag and started toward the field. “Oh, and apparently my name is Kaylee now.”

The rest of the team was just as happy to see me as Julie and Lauren had been. It felt pretty nice to be wanted for a change; I wished I could be male and get the same reception. We ended up winning the game by one goal, scored by Seth of course.

My soccer skills had not improved appreciably with the change to my gender; if anything I played worse than normal. I was so distracted by the shifting weight on my chest and running with my new shape was awkward, to say the least. My hair constantly flailing in front of my eyes was also very distracting. I found myself holding my hair with one hand while trying in vain to dribble the ball. After about 15 minutes of this Lauren ran up to me.

“Here, let me help.” She gathered up my hair and then slid a rubber band off her wrist and created a quick pony tail, very similar to her own. “I always keep a couple spares on me just in case,” she said, giving me a quick smile.

“Thanks,” I replied.

I found that the guys on the team were a lot nicer to me now. Instead of groaning when I screwed up a play they would say “Good try” or “Good effort”. When I did something halfway competent they cheered like I’d just scored a goal. I knew it was because I had boobs now, I was always much nicer to women than men, but I have to admit it still felt pretty nice.

After the game Seth and I headed to the car. “So, where the hell did you get that candle?” My higher voice was still strange to my ears.

“There was a new store in the mall, called ‘Spells R Us’. A guy in a bathrobe said it was guaranteed to grant one wish.” Seth unlocked the passenger car door and opened the door for me. “I’m sure he can fix this.”

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” I glared at Seth.

“What?” Seth looked puzzled.

“I don’t need you opening doors for me. I may be female now, but I’m still Keith inside. Please treat me like you always have. Got it?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it,” Seth replied, sheepishly.

While changing back into my sneakers I found a purse on the floor of the passenger seat. In addition to some makeup items, my crappy cell phone, my house keys and a white cylindrical tube whose purpose I didn’t want to contemplate at the moment, I found my new driver’s license. The photo resembled the face I’d seen in the restroom mirror, the name was ‘Kaylee Anderson’, height 5’6” and gender a capital ‘F’. My birth date and address were still the same. I’d lost three inches along with my penis, which made me four inches shorter than Seth now.

We drove by the mall on the way home, but it was closed. We checked the hours and it would not open again until 11am tomorrow. Not knowing what else to do, Seth drove me home.

“We can go to the mall tomorrow after our English class. I’m sure the guy I bought the candle from can get you back to normal,” Seth said while we were parked outside of my house.

“You’d better hope so, otherwise I am going to kick your ass,” I replied as I grabbed my purse and sports bag. I opened the door, but then hesitated before leaving the car. “Can you come inside with me?”

“Sure, what’s up?” He asked.

“I’m suddenly really nervous. What if they don’t recognize me?”

“I think they will, everyone on the team seemed to know you as Kaylee now, your family probably will too.”

“But why do you know that I was Keith before?”

Seth furrowed his brow in thought. “I don’t know, maybe because I was there and saw it happen?” Seth shrugged. “Well, let’s go in and see what’s up. If it’s too weird you can stay at my place tonight.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that,” I said.

We left the car and headed into the house. We found my parents in the family room watching TV in their usual seats. My mom stood as soon as she noticed us.

“Hello, angel, have you had a happy birthday so far?” My mom asked as she walked over to us. My dad was following her. She gave me a quick hug and then turned to Seth. “How are you, Seth?”

“Fine, Mrs. Anderson,” Seth replied.

“Happy Birthday, pumpkin,” My dad said as he pulled me into a hug; my head barely made it to his shoulder now. I stood on tippy-toes and kissed his cheek. I found the smell of his old spice and scratchy whiskers oddly comforting. I didn’t normally kiss my dad, so I wasn’t entirely sure why I did just now, but it felt right. It felt right being held by him too. My father had never been very affectionate with me before. Being held in his arms was a new experience I could get used to. My dad released me from the hug, but still had an arm around my shoulders. I leaned against him as he greeted Seth. “How have you been, Seth?”

“Good, Mr. Anderson,” replied Seth.

“How was the game, did you win?”

“Yes sir, we won by one goal.”

“Are you hungry, Kaylee, I can heat up some lasagna. Would you like some, Seth?” asked my mom.

“Seth scored the winning goal, Dad,” I said.

“Good job, son. You’re quite the Pele aren’t you?”

“I don’t know about that, sir,” Seth said to my dad. He turned to my mom. “I can’t stay Mrs. Anderson, but thank you anyway.” Seth turned to me. “I’ll pick you at 8am tomorrow, Kaylee.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow, thanks for the ride.”

“Thank you for bringing Kaylee home safe, Seth,” My mom said. “So, are you up for some lasagna, Kaylee? You have to be hungry.”

“I am, but I want to shower first, okay?”

“Sure thing, after dinner your father and I have a little surprise for you,” My mom said.

I headed upstairs to my room. So far besides my dad hugging me, my family and house seemed fairly normal; I wondered how my room would look. The addition of a purse and sports bra suggested that my room probably now contained a whole host of feminine items. I paused at the door, took a deep breath and tried to steady my nerves. I dreaded seeing the results my wish had made to my sanctuary. I also dreaded undressing. Sure, I would finally get to see real live breasts and a pussy, but now that they were attached to my body I found the idea much less appealing.

I entered my room and found my fears were justified; it was a definite girl’s room now. I recognized my text books and laptop on a white desk in the corner of the room. My bed was still a double, but now it had a floral comforter and a large collection of stuffed animals on it. On the walls were some posters of soccer players, but instead of action shots, the players were posing without shirts. My Avengers movie poster was now a giant head shot of Chris Hemsworth, which appeared to be signed. The furniture in my room now appeared to be a set and complemented the yellow with white trim on the walls. The set consisted of the desk, a dresser, bookcase and a vanity which sported a large mirror. There was another larger standing mirror on the opposite wall.

I examined the contents of the bookcase and it still held all of my graphic novels and most of my sci-fi/fantasy novels, but I noticed a few paranormal romance books which hadn’t been there this morning. I hoped I wasn’t a Twihard now. Gone were my action figures and in their place were a whole set of bobble heads. It looked like I had complete sets of Walking Dead, Avengers and Game of Thrones.

Besides the posters my walls also now contained a bunch of pictures of my new self with my family and some with Seth. The room was extremely tidy; it looked like it had just been cleaned. I’m not sure when I’d last cleaned my former room. On the vanity sat a large collection of brushes, cosmetics and jewelry. Missing from the room, besides the normal mess, was my X-box and most of my comic book collection.

I stood in front of the standing mirror to get a better look at myself. Between the mirror made of actual glass and decent lighting I now had a much better look at my new face. I found I looked a lot like a cross between my older sister and my mom, both of whom were also brunettes. This was good news as both were pretty attractive women. My mom was in her early 50s, but could probably pass for a decade younger. Jenny had model looks. I‘d definitely taken after my dad in the looks department before and while good at sports, handsome was not his strong suit. One thing I didn’t inherit from my dad was stature, not as Keith or Kaylee. My dad towered over the rest of the family at 6’2”.

I lifted a diminutive hand to my face and felt my puffier lips, my dainty nose and prominent cheekbones. I was definitely pretty, not a knock out, but pretty. I would have given myself a solid seven if I had seen myself on the street yesterday. I could live with a seven. If I was going to be female for any length of time, I wanted to at least be somewhat good looking. I noticed that I was wearing makeup. Not a lot, but there was definite eye liner around my eyes. My nails were fairly short for a girl and without polish.

I looked down and figured it was time to check out my new rack. I pulled off my shirt, and then decided to go down to just underwear. I sat on the bed and removed my shoes and socks. I stood and removed my shorts and then looked at myself in the mirror. I turned from side to side and checked out my new figure. I was in pretty decent shape before and this translated to a nice tight feminine body. My waist was slim and my tush was pretty shapely, probably from all the soccer. I grabbed the bottom of my sports bra, closed my eyes and then pulled it over my head. First thing I noticed was the weight of my new breasts, without the support of the sports bra I could feel their full weight as gravity did its thing. I opened my eyes and just stared at my new breasts; they were really nice. They weren’t huge or even what I would have called large, but they fit my body really well. I turned to my side and gazed at them standing tall and jutting from my body; how I wished I’d seen this when I still had a cock. I lifted a hand and tentatively touched my left breast; it felt even more wonderful than it looked. The soft supple flesh of my breast yielded easily to my caress. My other hand went to my right breast and soon my nipples began to tingle and tighten. I looked down to see my hardened nipples standing tall in the center on my wide areolas. I would have continued, but was startled by a warm dampness in my panties; my reflection betrayed my embarrassment. I removed my hands and stepped away from the mirror.

The feeling between my legs quickly reminded me of my situation and the fact that my parents were waiting for me down stairs. I wrapped myself in a robe I found outside my closet door and headed to the hall bathroom. My new boobs swayed and bounced with each step I took. The bathroom had not been spared changes by my wish. The first thing that stood out was the shower curtain, which before had been a plain dark blue and was now covered in daisies. The counter was laden with lotions and creams; in the bath was a wide variety of shampoos and conditioners as well as a pink razor. I checked my legs and they could do with a shave. The hair was much softer and much lighter in color than it had been yesterday. Under the bathroom sink I found a bunch of feminine hygiene products. Seeing these only heighted my desire to have my cock back as soon as possible.

I tried to stick to business as much as possible while showering. I did wash my breasts, but did not linger. The feeling my new vagina had made earlier still stuck with me. If someone asked me yesterday what I would do if I’d been suddenly turned into a girl, I’d have answered that I would spend all day playing with my tits and pussy, but now that I actually had them I found I was too embarrassed, even a little fearful, to touch them. The sensation of my pussy getting wet was scarily feminine and so unlike my dick when it had gotten hard. I wasn’t ready to masturbate yet, nor even touch the thing. Hopefully it wasn’t something I would have to live with much longer. Seth and I would go to the store tomorrow afternoon and I would be a guy again. After the shower I wrapped my hair in a towel as best I could and dried myself off.

Once back in my bedroom I looked through my closet and found the boxes containing my comics and a lot of unfamiliar clothes. There were a couple dresses and skirts, but mostly jeans and leggings and tights in a wide array of colors. My shoe collection had increased exponentially. There were some boots, several different pairs of Vans and some sandals. The sandals had a small heel, but other than that the shoes looked pretty manageable. No towering high heels or anything. It looked like I tended to be feminine in my dress, but I wasn’t an all out girly-girl or some fashionista. I didn’t know what I would do about makeup tomorrow, but it looked like jeans, sneakers and a decent top and it would be business as usual as far as anyone else was concerned. I figured it would be best to try to stay in character as much as possible until I could change back. No sense arousing too much drama or weird questions.

I sat at my vanity and started working a comb through my wet hair. It fought me at first, but eventually it started to behave and look somewhat presentable. It was still fairly damp, but was at least under control. I found a pair of cotton panties and slid them up my legs. I skipped a regular bra and grabbed another sports bra. I wanted something simple tonight. I covered the bra with a t-shirt, pulled on a pair of purple sweats, slipped my feet into a pair of bunny slippers I’d found in the closet and headed downstairs to dinner.

After dinner, which consisted salad, lasagna and garlic bread while watching TV with my parents, my mom brought out a small cake with 19 candles lit and glowing brightly. They sang ‘Happy Birthday’ while I sat there slightly embarrassed.

“Make a wish, pumpkin,” my dad said.

“I think I’ve made one too many of those today,” I mumbled. I wished silently to be male again and blew out the candles. I stood still for a moment, in hopeful anticipation, but these were ordinary candles apparently.

“We have a present for you,” said my dad. He handed me a nicely wrapped rectangular box about six inches long that was strangely heavy for its size. “This is not only for your birthday, but also for getting such excellent grades last quarter. We are very proud of you.”

I tore at the wrapper to reveal a brand new iPhone. “Oh my god!” I squealed. “Thank you, Dad,” I threw my arms around him. I turned to my mom and hugged her too. “Thank you, Mom, this is so awesome.”

“We will pay the monthly charges as long as you keep your grades up,” said my mom.

“I will, count on that. This is so great; you’ve really made this a great birthday after all.” Besides being turned into a girl earlier in the evening I meant it. It hadn’t been that bad of a night, all things considered. My team actually wanted me around, my dad wasn’t afraid to hug me and now I had a brand new iPhone. Plus I could play with a pair of tits later tonight if I felt like it, not too shabby.

Instead of studying that night I spent a bunch of time setting up my iPhone and downloading a bunch of apps. I still went to bed early, knowing that I would have to tackle clothes and makeup in the morning. While I normally just slept in boxers, I decided to wear the sports bra as well; the less jiggling and bobbing while I slept the better.

In the morning I wasn’t sure where I was; my bedroom was still rather foreign to me. After a few moments it all came back to me and I arose and found a white bra and panty set in my dresser. The panties were fairly easy to don, but I struggled with the bra. I was close to giving up when I finally managed to get the back clasped together. I decided to skip makeup altogether, hopefully no one would make a big deal out of it. I knew girls who went without and no one seemed to care that much. I thought about asking my mom to help me, but at 19 I was probably too old to be asking how to put on makeup.

I found a Thor t-shirt in my dresser and added to this a pair of black skinny jeans and a pair of Vans. As I brushed my hair I decided to put it in a pony tail. I found a bunch of scrunchies in one of the drawers in the vanity. I grabbed my purse; put my books and laptop in a book bag I found near my desk and checked myself in the mirror on the way out the door. I looked rather plain without jewelry or makeup, but the lower I registered on everyone’s radar today the better with me.

Seth showed up promptly at eight according to my new iPhone. “You look really nice today, Kaylee,” Seth said as I entered his car. “Or should I call you Keith?”

“You should probably call me Kaylee otherwise you might accidently call me Keith at the wrong time.” I thought for a moment. “Thank you for the compliment, but stop it. You never said I looked nice before, so don’t start doing it now.”

“Okay, but you didn’t fill out a Thor t-shirt like that before,” Seth said, smiling. He lost the smile when he saw my glare.

Classes took forever. When English finally ended I grabbed Seth by the arm and headed to the car. While my foray into femininity had not been as traumatic as I would have thought, I still wanted my old apparatus back as soon as possible. Within 30 minutes we were at the mall and headed to the ‘Spells R Us’ store. When we arrived at the Victoria’s secret and Starbucks, the place where Seth had said the store was located, it wasn’t there. It wasn’t like the store had just vacated there wasn’t a space between the two stores.

“Are you sure this is where it was located?” I asked.

“Definitely, I’d gone into the Starbucks right after buying the candle. I swear it was here two days ago, you have to believe me.”

“I believe you. I’ve seen enough magic in the last 24 hours to know that it’s real now. Let’s look around the mall and see if it just moved.”

We spent the next hour searching and re-searching the entire mall, but the store was not here. We looked at the mall directory and even asked at the Info counter. Well, Seth asked. I made him since this was mostly his fault.

“I’m so sorry, Kaylee, I don’t know what to do now,” Seth said, looking very apologetic.

“Nothing to do. Let’s grab some lunch and head back to our next class. Perhaps we’ll think of something on the way.”

We didn’t talk much during lunch or on the way back to school. I imagined that Seth was feeling guilty and I was too preoccupied with the fear that this change might now be permanent. My thoughts went back to the feminine hygiene products I’d found. If I stayed female I was eventually going to have a period and I had no clue what to do with some of the feminine hygiene products I’d spied. I did not have the slightest idea how I would clean my vagina and I didn’t really want to know. After our last class of the day Seth dropped me off at my house and said that he was going to do some research on the internet to see if he could learn anything about the store.

I exited the car and headed into the house. I was greeted by my mom as I approached the kitchen. “Hello, Kaylee, how was school?” She asked without turning from whatever had her busy. “Are you hungry? I can make you a sandwich.”

“No, I’m not hungry,” I replied.

“Dinner will be around six, angel.”

“Great, I’m going to my room to study,” I said as I headed toward the stairs. My room felt a bit more familiar today and I really appreciated that it was clean. I would have to make sure I kept it that way. I hung my purse on the inside door knob of my door and then sat at my desk and began to study. I found myself wishing I’d spent a little less time playing with my new phone last night and put in some study time. I was taking a full load and each of my classes required quite a bit of work each night to keep up. I had my work cut out for me tonight. I had a couple hours before dinner which would not give me enough time to finish it all, but I should be able to take a big bite out of it.

After an hour or so I was interrupted by my phone ringing. I grabbed my phone from my purse; it was Seth. “Hey, Seth, what’s up? Have you started on calculus yet?” I asked.

“No, I’ve been searching online for info on that store,” he replied.

“Did you find anything?”

“Yes and no. I found all sorts of references to Spells R Us, but they were all fiction stories.”

“Fiction, what do you mean?”

“Made up stories online,” he said. “I read some of them and they all seem to be about guys turning into women.”

“Are you telling me that you bought the candle from a fictitious store? I don’t know how to process what you’re saying. Is the store real or not?” I asked.

“It’s real, I was there I talked to the wizard. It was just like in the stories he knew my name, he knew what I was looking for and he was wearing a flipping bathrobe.”

“So, where does that leave us? Did the stories tell you how to find it again?” I asked.

“Kind of, some of them mentioned that the store had a habit of disappearing. It does seem that it’s usually in malls though. I think we should start hitting all the malls. Start with the close ones and then keep looking until we find it.”

“I hope that works,” I replied.

“Hey, are we still on for the comic convention this weekend?”

“Crap, I totally forgot about that. I guess, wait … my costume…I have to check my costume.” I put the phone on speaker and laid it on my bed. I rushed over to my closet and dug through it looking for my Green Goblin costume. I passed the costume several times before I finally found it, looking for something green I had passed the black cat suit multiple times. It was the white wig that finally tipped me off.

“Shit. I can’t go in this,” I groaned.

“What is it, do you still have it?” Seth asked from the phone on my bed.

I pulled the costume out of the closet and looked at it closely and carried it with me and sat on the bed. “I’m not dressing in this; it would be way too embarrassing.”

“What’s wrong?” Seth asked.

“It’s a flipping Black Cat costume,” I replied.

“Well, that would go well with my Spidey costume,” Seth replied.

“You know what Black Cat’s costume looks like, it is skin tight, and shows lots of cleavage. No thank you.”

“Come one man. We’ve been planning this for most of the year. Don’t back out on me.”

“That’s really easy for you to say, you’re not the one who suddenly grew breasts last night. It’s bad enough that I have them hanging off my chest I don’t want to show them off to everyone.”

“Okay point taken, we don’t have to go in costume if you don’t want, but will you still go? Half the cast of Walking Dead is going to be there. Please say yes.”

“Yeah, I’ll still go,” I said.

There was a knock on my door which was halfway open. I looked up and there was my sister Jenny at door. “Hey, Kaylee,” she said.

“Oh my god! Jenny’s here, I got to go,” I told Seth.

“See you tomorrow,” Seth said.

“I hope I’m not interrupting,” she said as she entered my room.

“Jenny! I’m so happy to see you.” I jumped up and rushed and gave her a hug. She was now a couple inches taller than me.

“Is everything all right?” She asked.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” I lied.

“Are you sure, I didn’t mean to eaves drop, but it sounded like there was a problem,” she said.

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“What’s going on?” She asked.

“It’s just this costume. It’s pretty revealing and I guess I’m not ready to wear it.”

“Mom said you’ve been looking forward to this convention for months. She said you and Seth even bought costumes that went together.”

“Yeah, I guess we did, but I changed my mind okay?” I was getting uncomfortable.

“You said something else to Seth. You said you grew breasts last night, what did you mean by that?” She asked.

I was at a loss for a reply. I’d always been pretty close to Jenny; she was the one I could talk to when I was annoyed with Seth or my parents. She never judged me and was always a good listener. I found myself very tempted to confide in her. I doubted she would believe me, but I was frightened of facing a future of makeup, bras and unfamiliar body parts without someone who had a clue about these things, someone who could guide me.

“I have something to tell you and you probably aren’t going to believe me,” I said as I closed the bedroom door.

“I’ll believe you, Kaylee, you’ve never been a liar,” she responded with a slight frown.

I sat on the bed “Well, first my name isn’t Kaylee, it’s Keith, and I’m your brother, not your sister. I turned into Kaylee Monday night.”

“Okay, you were right, I don’t believe you.”

“I didn’t think you would and I wouldn’t have told you, but we can’t find the store and now it looks like I might be stuck like this for who knows how long and I don’t know how to be a girl.”

“When I asked you what was wrong this was probably the last thing I expected you to say.” She sat on the bed next to me and put her hand on my leg. “What’s going on, Kaylee? Is it something with school or Mom and Dad?”

“No, it’s not school or our parents.” I looked up at her, beginning to feel frustrated. “I’m telling you the truth, Seth bought a birthday candle at a magic store and I made a stupid wish and then I changed into a girl and now everyone thinks I was always a girl. Seth is the only one who remembers who I used to be. We went back to the store, but it’s not there anymore. Seth thinks we might be able to find it at another mall, but I’m not so sure. I may be like this for a long time now and I don’t know how to be a girl; I don’t have any memory of being female before yesterday.”

“Are you saying you don’t remember that you’re my Maid of Honor?” Jenny looked pissed.

“I’m sorry, really I am. Please don’t be mad at me. Of course I’ll be your Maid of Honor, but I don’t know how; I don’t know anything about being a girl. I don’t know how to put on makeup, what to wear, how to shave my legs, what to do with my hair, what to do if I get a period. I can barely even put on a flipping bra.” My vision began to blur. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, I need help and Seth knows less about being a girl than I do. Please help me Jenny, you don’t have to believe me, but please say you’ll help me.” Warm tears streamed down my face.

“Oh, Kaylee, you poor thing, of course I’ll help you.” Jenny pulled me into a hug, my head resting on her chest. “I can help you with all those things, anything you need.”

I pulled back and looked at her. “So, you believe me?” I asked hopefully while wiping at my wet face.

“No, I don’t believe you were a boy, but I will play this game with you. I can help you with your makeup tomorrow and help you pick out some clothes. If you’re willing I’ll even help you with that costume as well. It’ll be fun. It’ll be like when you were in middle school.”

“Please don’t tell anyone what I told you, okay? I don’t want to freak out Mom or Dad.”

“Okay, I won’t; you have my word. It’ll be our secret.” She crossed her heart with her finger.

“Thank you so much, Jenny. You’re the best sister,” I said.

“You’re a pretty swell sister too, even if you want to believe you used to be my brother.” She ruffled my hair and gave me a smile. “After dinner why don’t we check out your costume and we can go through your clothes to see what you can wear tomorrow.”

“Okay, how long are you staying?” I asked.

“I’m staying here for the next few weeks. Zack had to stay and work so I’m staying in my old room until the wedding. I asked Mom not to tell you I was coming. I was supposed to be here yesterday and wanted to surprise you for your birthday, but then my flight got delayed.” She stood up. “Hey, I need to make a couple calls before dinner,” she said as she headed to the door; she stopped and turned toward me. “You look really great, Kaylee, I missed you a lot.”

“I missed you too.” We hugged again before Jenny left my room. I hung the costume up and got back to my studies.

After dinner I made my sister wait outside my bedroom while I tried on the costume, she wanted to help me, but dealing with my new female body was embarrassing enough alone. I wasn’t prepared to share the experience with anyone else even if she had ‘seen it all before’. I stripped to bra and panties and took a couple deep breaths. I reassured myself that if I didn’t feel comfortable after donning the costume I could just tell Jenny that I’d changed my mind and that she couldn’t see it after all.

The costume consisted of several different pieces; a long white wig, a black double diamond shaped eye mask, long black opera gloves, a shiny, black faux leather top with a plunging neck line trimmed in white fur, matching leggings and high heeled boots also with white trim. I struggled into the costume; it was very tight and hugged every inch of my body. I left the boots where I’d found them. After trying to get the wig to look right, and failing, I decided to call for my sister. She wore a shit eating grin as she entered my room.

“Stop smiling, this isn’t funny,” I said.

“Sorry, but you look so grown up in that costume. Nobody is going to think you were a boy wearing that getup,” she replied.

“You aren’t making this any easier.”

“You really look good in it; you have the figure and the boobs to pull it off.”

I looked at myself in the mirror. “I don’t think so, most of the women I’ve seen wearing the Black Cat costume have a lot more cleavage than this.”

“You’re doing just fine in the boob department, trust me. You just need the right bra and you’ll be giving every guy there a case of whiplash. Here I’ll show you.” Jenny reached around me, placed her hands on the sides of both my breasts and pushed in and up. “Something like that.”

At first I was horrified that my sister was copping a feel, but when I looked back at my reflection I could see her point. I now had the cleavage that would do the costume justice. “That does look better, but I don’t know if I want everyone staring at me.”

“You’ve been to a lot of these comic things before. Didn’t you ever wonder what it felt like to be the one that everyone was ogling over? The girl that made all the boys drool and all the girls jealous?” Jenny removed her hands. I was a bit disappointed when my breasts went back to looking normal.

“The girls in costume always do seem to get a lot more attention than the guys do at these things,” I admitted.

“Exactly, so it will be a good time to flaunt yourself a little. If you go back to being a boy it will be an experience you won’t get a chance at again and if not it will help build your confidence in your beauty.”

“I’m not sure I need confidence in beauty,” I said.

“Of course you do. Every woman does,” she replied.

“Perhaps, but I’ll have to do something else for shoes, I can’t walk in those boots,” I said motioning to the matching boots sitting just outside of my closet.

“Nonsense, I can have you walking fine in those in plenty of time. What are those, a three inch heel?” She asked. “Tomorrow night I will give you a couple lessons. It’s not as hard as it looks if you follow a few rules and do a little practice.”

“All right, you’ve mostly convinced me. I should get back to studying; I have a test coming up.” I pulled off the wig. “Thanks I feel a lot better now.”

“Anytime, Kaylee, but before you start studying let’s go through your closet and see what we have to work with.” Jenny walked over to my closet and rifled through the clothes. “You have a lot of cute blouses, is there a certain look you would like to go after?”

“I really don’t know,” I replied. “I guess I want to look like a normal college girl, but nothing revealing or too flashy. I want to blend in.”

“Hmm, the Kaylee I remember leaned toward the girl next door look, but with some flair. How does that sound?”

“Okay, how do we do that?” I asked.

“The pony tail works well or even hair down would look nice; you’ve got cute bangs. You got such great skin you could almost go without makeup, but a little eyeliner and some mascara will make your eyes standout.” Jenny pulled out a long baby blue sweater. “Add some skinny jeans to this and a pair of sandals and you’ll look adorable.” Jenny seemed to suddenly remember something. “I forgot something, I’ll be right back.” She handed me the sweater and left the room.

A minute later she was back holding a small box tied with a yellow ribbon. “Happy birthday! I’m sorry it’s late.”

“You didn’t have to get me anything,” I said. The box contained a small silver butterfly with wings made from tiny yellow gemstones and hanging from a delicate, silver chain. “Jenny this looks amazing and expensive.”

“I thought it would look nice on you.”

“It will, I’ll wear it tomorrow with the clothes you picked out.” I gave Jenny a hug. “Thank you for this and for your help. I feel so much better than I did before dinner.”

Jenny gave me a few other pointers on womanhood before I went back to studying. It took enough time that I wasn’t able to fully catch up on my studies, but at least now I wouldn’t totally stress out every time I had to pee.

Wednesday morning Jenny showed me the proper way to hook a bra. Baring my chest in front of her embarrassed me to no end, but she said that if she was going to teach me how to be a girl I’d better get over it quick. She also helped me with my makeup and hair and even picked out some bracelets and earrings which she thought went well with the butterfly necklace. I liked the result. The sweater fell to the top of my thighs and almost looked like a short dress. I’d seen girls at school wearing sweaters like this and I always appreciated the way it made them look; it was a vast improvement over yesterday.

Seth texted me a few minutes later letting me know he’d arrived. I hugged Jenny goodbye, grabbed my purse and book bag and headed outside. When I entered the car, Seth gave me an approving look, but did not say anything, not even a ‘Hello’.

“Oh go on and say it,” I said. After all the work Jenny and I’d done this morning I found I wanted to hear him say it.

“You look really nice, Kaylee,” Seth replied. “You looked nice yesterday, but you look really nice today.”

“Thank you, Jenny helped me.” I couldn’t help smiling. Seth’s comment made me feel pretty good, even better than I thought it would. “I told her about the wish and now she is going to help me with makeup and stuff.”

“You actually told her?” Seth asked, looking a little shocked. “Did she believe you?”

“No, but she’s going to help me anyway and she won’t tell anyone else, she’s also helping me with the costume, so I’m going to wear the Black Cat costume on Saturday.”

“Sweet,” Seth said as he pumped his arm in victory. “Well, hopefully we’ll find that store before Saturday, but if we don’t it’ll be awesome going as Black Cat and Spiderman.”

“Yeah, well my vote is for finding the store,” I replied.

Seth and I were back to talking like our normal selves. We joked around and had our normal arguments like whether the Hulk could take Thor or who was faster, the Flash or Superman. Conversationally it was like nothing had changed, we were still best friends. I did catch him looking at my breasts a few times, but if he’d suddenly grown a pair of tits I’d have checked him out as well. After school Seth and I drove by a couple malls that were nearby, but neither had the store we desired. We got back to my place just in time for dinner.

After dinner Jenny met me in my room and had me try on the Black Cat boots. “The trick to walking in heels is, first and foremost, walking with confidence," She began. "Trust yourself and don’t over think it. Start walking across the room and remember walk heel to toe.”

I stood and wobbled a little and tentatively walked across the room with my arms held out from my body for balance.

“Okay, not too bad. This time stand a little taller, head up, shoulders back. Bend the knees slightly too.”

I think I did a bit better this time, it did feel a little more natural this time. Judging from my sister’s face as I turned and headed back to her, I still needed more work.

“This time don’t look at your feet. Look ahead and keep your arms down if you can. Also, imagine there is a line on the ground and put each foot on the line as you walk so each foot lands just in front of the other. Also, you do not need to take big steps, take small ones at first and as you get more comfortable you can take longer strides.”

I tried to follow all of Jenny’s advice when I did the walk. When I turned this time she was smiling.

“Great job, now wear those whenever you're at home for the rest of the week and you’ll not only get more comfortable walking in them, but it’ll help break them in, something you’ll be thankful for on Saturday when you wear them all day. You should walk in them outside a little too; it will scuff the bottoms so they won’t be too slippery.”

“Thanks, Jenny,” I said.

“Oh, I have something else for you,” she said as she jumped off the bed and raced out of the room. When she returned she was holding a small Victoria’s Secret bag. “I picked this up for you.” She handed me the bag.

I opened the bag and pulled out a bra of a type I’d never seen before; it had the cups of a bra, but lacked straps and was made out of a rubbery material. I just stared at her.

“This is a silicon demi bra that adheres to your breasts and will give you the cleavage we are looking for,” she informed me.

I pulled her into a hug. “Thanks, you really didn’t have to.”

“It was nothing, now remember, practice, practice, practice.”

I wore the heels for the rest of the night and by the time I headed to bed I found it much easier to navigate in them.

The next two days were filled with school, studying, failed attempts at finding the Spells R Us store and walking around the house in my heels. On Thursday night Jenny gave me shaving lessons and pointers on feminine hygiene. When it came time for bed on Friday night I was nervous about the big day at the convention. Jenny said she would help me with my makeup and wig in the morning, she kept reassuring me that it would be fine once I got there. She even showed me some ‘sexy’ poses for pictures with Seth. I was hesitant at first, but she was relentless so I gave in tried them out in front of the mirror. It felt fun and exciting and scary at the same time. I wasn’t scared of someone thinking I was a hussy or a slut; I was scared that I liked it too much. I was still a guy on the inside and I didn’t want to lose that.

In the morning, after a shower, I donned the costume with the demi bra. True to her word Jenny applied my makeup and affixed the wig properly. I wasn’t sure how she managed to get all my normal hair hidden under the wig, but it involved half a box of hair pins. I checked my reflection in my bedroom’s mirror and could scarcely believe that the sexy vixen being reflected was actually me.

“Kaylee, Seth is here,” my mom called from down stairs.

“You can do this, Kaylee. Remember that it is okay to look good and everyone is going to love your outfit,” Jenny said. “I expect a full report when you get back.”

“Thanks for all your help,” I replied as I grabbed my purse. I slowly navigated my way down the stairs holding onto the stairway rail the whole way. My confidence in heels had grown considerably over the last few days and while going upstairs was a breeze, heading down stairs still made me a little nervous.

“Morning, Seth, I’m ready to go anytime,” I said.

Seth, in his Spiderman costume, turned and looked at me and his eyes went wide. “Wow! Kaylee you look amazing,” Seth gushed.

“Thanks you look great too, we should probably go now,” I replied as I felt my face grow hot in embarrassment.

“Not so fast, I want pictures,” my mom demanded.

A few minutes later we were finally in Seth’s car and he started up again.

“Wow, you are totally rocking that costume. Jesus I can’t believe how good you look. And those heels, when did you learn to walk in heels like that?” Seth asked, very excited.

“Listen, you’d better take it down a notch, I’m really uneasy about this and I don’t need you making a big deal about it,” I scolded. “Please remember that it’s me, Keith, in this body.”

“Sorry man, I didn’t mean to upset you,” he apologized. After a moment he continued. “You do look good though,” he said more casually.

“Jenny helped me out a lot. She showed me how to walk in these shoes and she did my makeup and also showed me how to make my breasts look bigger”

“You look like one of the professional booth babes, not a causal fan,” he said.

“Well, thank you. I am still trying to get used to looking like this. One thing you can do for me though is don’t leave me alone today, please. I’m very nervous and I don’t want to do it alone.”

“No, problem, I’ll stick by you all day. Thank you for doing this. I can’t imagine what it must be like to go through a change like you did. You’re handling it really well. I don’t know if I’d leave the house.”

“The thought had crossed my mind, but I’m not going to stop living my life just because I have different equipment,” I replied.

Seth started the car and we began our journey to the city’s convention center. Once we arrived my inner fanboy took over and I was too excited to be nervous. I’d brought my autograph book along and was giddy at the prospect of completing my collection of the Walking Dead cast. My Black Cat costume didn’t allow me to walk as fast as Seth, but he was a gentleman and stayed close to me just as he had promised. Most of the floor was smooth concrete and easy to navigate, but there were power cables running across the floor in some places and in others the dreaded stairs. When traversing an area that challenged my skill in heels, I would take a hold of Seth’s arm for balance. He didn’t seem to mind this in the least.

While standing in line for autographs I was startled when I was approached by another fan with a camera. “Can I get a picture of you?” he asked.

Jenny had warned me of this. “Sure,” I replied. I turned to the photographer, stood tall, put one hand on a cocked hip.

“Can I get one with Spiderman too?” He asked after taking a couple photos.

Seth stood next to me held out his wrist like he was shooting web. I struck an action pose; I turned slightly to the side, crouched slightly with my chest thrust and my hands in karate action mode.

“Thanks, you two make a great couple,” he said as he departed.

“Nice poses, you looked amazing doing that,” Seth whispered to me. “I always appreciated the girls who got into character when in costume.”

“Jenny gave me some tips last night,” I replied quietly. “You know, that was more fun than I thought it’d be.”

“Remind me to thank her when we get back,” Seth said.

The convention experience was much like all the others we'd attended over the years, a mixture of racing to an event just to stand in line, interspersed with geeking out at the celebrities in attendance, to drooling over all the geeky merchandise our college life budgets didn't allow us to buy. I caught others taking pictures of me while we were in line or walking to an event. Several others asked me to pose. I had one of them take pictures of Seth and me with my iPhone. I found the whole thing very flattering and all the attention a little intoxicating. People had taken pictures of Seth and me occasionally over the years at these things, but nothing even remotely approaching the amount today.

The day was almost ruined near the end of the day when some asshole grabbed my ass. We were standing in line for another autograph when I felt a large, strong hand grab my right butt cheek. I was so startled I shrieked and jumped forward and crashed into the person in front of me. I bounced off that person and almost fell over. Rude laughter came from behind me.

"Hey, be careful!" Said the person in front of me.

I whipped around and glared at the rather large man behind me. He looked to be in his late twenties and a gym regular. "Watch it asshole!" I growled.

"You’re real pretty when you're angry," he laughed. "How about some jumping jacks so I can watch your tits bounce," he said, leering at my cleavage.

I stepped back and covered my chest with my arms.

"You better back off, jerk!" Seth stepped in front of me protectively.

The guy had a couple inches and around 40 pounds of muscle on Seth. He stepped forward and bumped his muscled chest against Seth. "What are you going to do about it runt? Shoot me with silly string out of your web slingers? Get out of my face before I kick your ass."

"No, it's you who'd better leave. If you think I'm going to let you harass my friend and get away with it you have another thing coming." Seth looked deadly serious. I wouldn't have messed with him looking at me like that, but I'd never been as big as the guy he was standing up against.

"Plus he won’t be alone,” came a voice from behind us. “Beat it or we’ll all kick your ass,” Superman said. “And if we see you messing with any of the other girls here we won’t be so nice next time." He, Batman and the rest of the Justice League had come up behind us unnoticed.

The asshole, now severely outnumbered, turned and made a hasty retreat. We thanked our fellow conventioneers for their help.

When they’d left I found I was shaking a little bit. I slipped my arm through Seth's and leaned into him. "Thank you, Seth. That was really brave of you, that guy was big and really scary."

"I would have punched him,” Seth replied. “He really pissed me off. I don’t care if he kicked my ass I wasn't going to let him mess with you."

The rest of the convention was fairly uneventful. I'd gathered the rest of the autographs I'd needed, got pictures with all the celebrities I could and after a marathon twelve hours we were headed back home. On the way home we made plans for hitting some more malls on Sunday. After Seth dropped me off at home Jenny wanted me to tell her about the day. She gave me a knowing smile when I told her how the paparazzi made me feel. She was horrified when I told her about mister grabby hands, but this changed to admiration when I let her know how Seth handled it.

"Wow, sounds like Seth really likes you," she said when I had finished.

"Well, yeah we've been friends since grade school," I replied.

"That's not really what I meant."

"It’s not that way between us,” I assured her. “We're just friends."

"Okay," she said and let it drop.

I went upstairs and removed the makeup, wig, costume, heels and demi bra. I slipped into sweatpants, a cami with a shelf bra and my bunny slippers and headed back downstairs to watch TV with my family. After a couple hours I went to bed.

When Seth picked me up on Sunday it turned out that we were both wearing matching Walking Dead t-shirts we'd bought at the convention yesterday. Jenny had helped me accentuate my look though. I'd always marveled at how some girls could wear a t-shirt and jeans and make it look like fashion, whereas other girls looked like they were slumming. Jenny showed me that a bit of effort went into the former. She had me wear my hair down, but she arranged it so that it hung in a way that showed my ears upon which she placed some dangly earrings. She added eye shadow and lip gloss to the mascara and eyeliner. The result had me looking casual, but flirty too. She was having a lot of fun helping me get dressed and I liked our time together and the resulting look. While Jenny and I had been close growing up there was always a bit of a distance between us, one that was vanishing quickly with our new bonding over clothes and makeup.

The trip to the malls that day turned out to be a total bust. We had to drive hours to each one and then spend a lot of time searching the mall itself. We didn't trust information to tell us if a magical store was on the premises or not. Each failure weighed heavier on our moods, making us quite glum by the end of the day. It was quite the juxtaposition from just the day before. We arrived at Seth’s house just before 8pm to watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones as we had every Sunday evening for the last seven weeks.

After the show, Seth drove me home. On the way he was strangely silent like something weighed on his mind. When we pulled up to my house Seth turned to me. "Kaylee, can I ask you for a weird favor?" Seth asked hesitantly.

He seemed nervous, which in turn made me a little nervous. I wondered what he could possibly want to ask me that would make him nervous. "That would depend on what the favor is," I replied.

"I was thinking, you know how we used to always say that girls only ever seemed to want to go out with guys who already had girlfriends?" He asked, getting a little bolder. "You know, how it seems like a guy gets no attention, but once he has a girl on his arm then suddenly all the girls want him."

"Yeah, I remember," I said, not liking where this was going. "Not that I ever had a girlfriend in the first place to test that theory."

"Well, I was wondering if you would pretend to be my girlfriend at school and soccer."

"Pretend how?" I asked without humor.

"Uh, I hadn't really thought about it that far. I guess hold hands."

I said nothing for about a minute. "I’ll think about it,” I said as I opened the car door. "I'll see you tomorrow at eight. Oh and thanks for driving today."

Once back in the house I grabbed Jenny and dragged her into my bedroom and closed the door.

"You are not going to believe what Seth just asked me,” I said.

"It can’t be good with that expression on your face,” she replied.

"He asked if I would be his pretend girlfriend." I explained our theory on women and the way they responded to a guy already involved.

"Well, I suppose there is a lot of truth to that theory,” she admitted. “What did you say?"

"I told him I would think about it," I replied. "What do you think? I mean I want to help Seth, but I'm not sure about this."

"Well, I think you should do it."

"Really?" I didn’t expect this answer from her.

"Sure, why not?” She asked. “All you'd need to do to pull it off is hold hands and the occasional quick kiss. If it gets weird you can tell him you don’t want to do it anymore. You should set some firm ground rules up front though. Let Seth know exactly how far you’re willing to take this charade," she instructed.

"Uh…okay," I replied.

Monday morning found me throwing my gym bag into the back of Seth's car at eight in the morning. We had a soccer game after school today.

"Okay, I'll do it," I said as soon as Seth started driving. “I'll pretend to be your girlfriend while at school or at soccer or if we are in public and someone from school is around, but there are a few rules. First, no touching below the waist; grab my ass and the deals off,” I stated. “Second, no touching my breasts; touch them not only is the deal off, but also I kick your ass."

"Fine, I totally agree to those terms," Seth replied looking like he had just swallowed the canary.

"I'm not finished. We can hold hands and we can kiss hello and kiss goodbye, preferably a peck, but more if we need to put on a bit of a show. But no tongue! Stick your tongue in my mouth and you'll draw back a stump, got it?"

"Thank you for doing this, Kaylee, I'll probably get a girlfriend within a week with your help."

"I hope you’re right," I replied.

As soon as we arrived at school and I’d gathered my purse and book bag I took a hold of Seth's hand and we walked to our first class holding each other's hands. We held hands throughout our first class, on our way to our second class and all the way up to lunch where Seth carried my lunch tray for me. After lunch and a study hour he walked me to my Humanities class. Seth had a computer science class this hour. When we arrived at my classroom he took me by the arms and gave me a big kiss.

"Goodbye, Kaylee, I'll see you in an hour," he said.

"Bye, Seth," I replied. As I watched Seth walk away I reflected on the day; so far it wasn't as bad as I'd feared. Holding hands was actually kind of pleasant and having my tray carried for me made me feel special. The kiss wasn't that bad either. I’d been dreading actually kissing a guy, but it turned out to be okay. It was definitely different than kissing a girl, not that I had a lot of experience in that area, his lips were firm against mine and I had to tilt my head back, which made me feel small. He also smelled real nice. Pretending to be his girlfriend probably wouldn't be that hard to pull off.

As I entered the class one of the students, a pretty girl named Ashley, called me over. “Sit here, Kaylee,” she said as I approached her.

I hardly knew Ashley and only knew her name because I’d heard the teacher call her name many times in class. I wondered if I knew her better in this reality; I wondered if we were friends. “What’s up, Ashley,” I replied once I sat down next to her.

“So, are you and Seth an item now?” She asked.

“Yeah, we like each other.”

“It looked a little more than like and a lot more like like-like. I see you two together all the time laughing at each other’s jokes, I’ve wondered if it would ever become something more. I think it’s great; you two make a cute couple.”

“Thanks, he’s a real great guy,” I replied. I was happy to see that people were noticing, hopefully Seth’s plan would work quickly and we could stop pretending.

After school Seth and I decided to recheck some of the closer malls. If the store could disappear from mall, perhaps it could reappear there as well. At the mall near the school we held hands again, figuring that the likelihood of being spotted by a classmate was fairly high. At the mall further from town we dropped the pretense. Unsuccessful in our search we grabbed some fast food on our way out and headed to soccer. On the way I pulled my hair into a ponytail and added a couple hair pins to keep my hair out of my face while playing. Once at the field I grabbed my bag and headed into the restroom to change into my soccer outfit, cleats and a sports bra.

When I had finished I found Seth talking with a couple teammates near the field. I walked up behind him and slid my arms around his waist, when he turned toward me I stood on my tippy toes and gave him a kiss on the lips.

“Miss me?” I asked in my best lovey dovey voice.

“You know it, Kaylee.” He replied and gave me another quick peck.

“Okay, get a room you two,” hooted Gary, one of our teammates. A few others chuckled.

During halftime the girls on the team drilled me for information on Seth’s and my new relationship. They wanted details and they wanted them now. I finally decided to tell them that the incident at the convention was the turning point. In a way it was, it made me see Seth in a different light. While in actuality it did not make me get all hot and bothered and want to be his girl, it did make me respect him a lot more. It made me realize that I could depend on him in a whole new way. While I was a girl he was going to keep me safe and that felt really good.

It also turned out that Lauren was throwing a party on Friday night and invited the whole team to attend. It was a BYOB and while Seth and I could not legally buy or drink alcohol yet she said it was still okay if we came, but we had to promise not to drink just in case the party got raided. We agreed.

That night I told Jenny about my day pretending to be Seth’s girlfriend and about the party.

“Not so bad a task was it?” She asked with a smile.

“It was okay,” I replied, beginning to blush.

“Just okay? Why do I have this feeling that it was better than just okay?” She looked at me knowingly.

“Stop teasing me. I’m just doing it as a favor,” I said in a huff.

“All right I’ll stop,” she said. “We will have to get you something nice for the party. We can go shopping Thursday night after school.”

“I don’t have much money,” I replied.

“Don’t worry about that, we won’t be paying for it,” she said cryptically.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at school were pretty much like Monday, Seth and I playing boyfriend/girlfriend and searching malls afterwards. Seth did get a bit of good news on Tuesday night. He’d found an online newsgroup that catered to Spells R Us sightings. It was free to sign up, but required a site administrator to grant access. Seth received the administrator’s confirmation on Tuesday night and was able to search postings for any clue that might help us. While there were some posts with recent sightings they were all on the other side of the country. Seth created a post with his sighting and asked for any help in locating the store close to us.

Thursday night Jenny let me in on her plan to get money for shopping. She planned on double teaming our dad. Just after dinner, when he watching TV from his favorite chair, she pulled me aside. “Follow my lead,” she whispered. She walked up to the side of his chair and sat on one of the large cushioned arms. “Hi, Daddy, how are you tonight?” She made a head motion for me to join her.

“Oh no, what do you want now?” He asked with exasperation. ‘I am already shelling out a fortune for your wedding, what else could you possibly want?”

I sat down on the chair’s other arm and put an arm around my dad. “Hello, Daddy, I hope your evening is going well.”

“Not you too, this isn’t fair,” he cried.

“Girls, play nice now,” my mom laughed from the other side of the room.

“I want to take Kaylee shopping for some clothes; can you give us some money?” Jenny asked sweetly.

“Please, Daddy,” I echoed.

“Fine, how much do you want?” He asked.

“You are such a softy George,” my mom sighed.

An hour later we were at the local mall looking through clothes in one of the many shops that catered to young women’s clothing.

“Are you ready to go with a skirt?” Jenny asked while examining a rather tiny piece of cloth.

“No, not at all,” I replied.

“You do know that you’ll be wearing a dress at my wedding. You should probably get in a little practice before hand.”

“Maybe, but I don’t want my first experience to be at my first real party as a girl.”

“Okay, but we should have you practice wearing one next week. Oooh, how about this?” Jenny pulled out a pair of shiny, silver, metallic looking tights with a black design that looked Gaelic in origin.

“I don’t know, those look pretty bold,” I said.

“I’ll grab a top and you can try it on,” she said while handing me the tights. “I think this will look awesome.”

Jenny searched some more and settled on a black sleeveless blouse and a black jacket and bustled me to the changing room. I had to admit that it looked really good together. The jacket fell to just below my hips and the combination of the basic top and adventurous tights gave me what Jenny called a ‘Causal Party’ look. A term I think she made that up on the spot.

Jenny looked me up and down and had me turn around. She gave an approving nod. “I have a pair of heels that will go perfect with this,” she said. “We’re probably going to run over what Dad gave us, but I’ll take care of the rest.”

“You don’t have to do that, I can get something else,” I replied.

“Look at yourself in the mirror, do you want to get something else?” she asked.

I gazed at my reflection. “No,” I said quietly.

“Good, it’s settled then,” she said triumphantly. “When we get home I’ll paint your nails and you can practice on mine.”

I changed back into my regular clothes and found I was now really excited for tomorrow. I wondered what Seth was going say when he saw me wearing these tights. I hoped he liked them as much as I did.

On Friday I awoke after having my first dream as Kaylee, well the first dream I remembered anyway. I don’t remember many of my dreams, but this one was still vivid in my mind when I woke up. In the dream I was dressed as the Black Cat again and was walking through a mall when suddenly I was being chased. I could not see my pursuer, but I knew it was a he. I also knew that he was very large and wanted to hurt me…and worse. I fled as quickly as I could in my three inch heeled boots. The presence slowly gained ground on me, but I still couldn’t see it. Soon it loomed over me, and I recognized it as the man from the convention, the one who’d grabbed my butt, only he was much larger now and quite evil. He reached out a massive hand to take possession of me, when suddenly he was struck in the face with a white sticky substance.

“Hey ya big bully, you get off on picking on ladies do you, well let’s see how you do against little old me,” called Spiderman as he kicked the monster. A quick series of kicks, punches and a liberal does of webbing and my attacker was soon totally subdued.

“Thank you Spiderman, how can I ever thank you?” I cooed.

“Join me for some ice cream,” Spiderman replied. He swooped me up into his arms, shot some webbing onto the ceiling and we were soon swinging through the air to the ice cream shop.

We found a table in the shop and Spiderman bought us a single bowl of ice cream with two spoons. I was just about to take a bite when another Spiderman and Black Cat entered the shop. They sat down at the table with us and introduced themselves as Peter Parker and Felicia Hardy, the real Spiderman and Black Cat. I turned to my Spiderman and he pulled off his mask and revealed that it was actually Seth who was my rescuer. I was stunned; I stared at him in adoration.

“I heard how you took care of that thug today, you’ve got real good moves kid,” Peter said to Seth. “How’d you like to help me out by subbing for me from time to time? So, I can get a real vacation with Felicia here.”

“And I can show you some of my moves so you can sub for me at the same time,” the real Black Cat said to me.

I was just about to reply when the Mall’s burglar alarm began blaring throughout the mall.

“The malls under attack, come on, you two can help us defend it.” Peter shouted.

Just as we headed out of the ice cream shop to save the day I woke up. The mall alarm was my alarm clock in actuality. I decided right away to keep this dream to myself and not share it with Jenny or Seth. It was too embarrassing on several levels.

At school Seth commented on my metallic silver nails. I told him it was just more of Jenny’s lessons in femininity. We held hands throughout the day as we had all week. I caught myself checking out my nails throughout the day. They made my hands look really pretty.

Outside my Humanities class we kissed goodbye for several seconds. I’d noticed that our goodbye kisses had been getting a little longer each day. I’d considered saying something, but I found I actually liked kissing Seth. Plus, I think it made the other girls in the class a little jealous.

I sat by Ashley once I entered the class. We’d been sitting together every day since Monday. It was kind of nice talking to another girl my own age. “I like your nails, they look really nice,” Ashley said as soon as I sat.

“That top is too cute on you,” I replied. “How was your date with Bradley last night?”

Ashley launched into a very detailed recounting of her activities the prior night. She promised to finish after class when she was interrupted by our instructor starting class halfway through her tale.

After school I headed home to prepare for Lauren’s party. Even though I was wearing tights I decided to shave my legs. I liked how they felt without any hair, so soft and smooth. After my shower I applied moisturizer to my body. Once in my room Jenny took a curling iron to my hair. For a half hour she would curl and brush, curl and brush. The result was full, wavy, lustrous hair that cascaded over my shoulder to the tops of my breasts. I looked like a shampoo commercial.

With Jenny’s supervision I applied my own make up. She had me use liquid eyeliner this time and extend it past my eyes, giving me what she called a ‘winged’ look. Dark eye shadow, some blush and very red lipstick were next. The final look made my face as daring as the tights. Jenny’s shoes were a little loose so she had me put on some nude nylons which seemed to help a little. The nylons felt amazing on my legs.

My dad was not as thrilled when he saw me. He didn’t say anything. He looked like he wanted to speak but didn’t know what to say, which was unusual for him. He looked at my face, then the tights and then the three inch, black, patent leather heels on my feet. Then he started back at the top and worked his way down again.

My mom eventually rescued him. She came up beside him and put her arm around his waist. “Our baby is all grown up George. Doesn’t she look pretty?” She asked looking at me with a wistful smile.

“Yes, you look very pretty Kaylee,” he said recovering himself. “And very grown up. I take it your sister dressed you tonight.”

“Jenny helped me. Why is something wrong?” I asked suddenly very self conscious.

“Nothing’s wrong Kaylee. You look beautiful. Your father is just having trouble adjusting to the fact that his little girl is a woman now; he’ll get used to it eventually.”

When Seth arrived a few minutes later wearing a nice dress shirt and casual slacks my mom had us pose for some pictures, which embarrassed both of us. Afterwards my dad asked him to join him in his study for a few moments. Once the door was closed I turned to Jenny and my mom.

“What is Dad doing with Seth?” I asked, puzzled.

“Don’t worry Kaylee; Dad is just giving him the ‘talk’. He used to do it to all the guys who took me out.”

A few minutes later Seth and my dad rejoined us.

“You ready Kaylee?” Seth asked.

I nodded and soon we were on our way. On the way to the party I asked Seth what my dad said to him.

“He asked me what I valued most and I told him it was my copy of issue 83 of Journey into Mystery,” Seth said.

“The one with the first appearance of Thor, right? That’s worth what, like five grand?” Seth had let me look at it once, but wouldn’t even let me hold it in its protective case.

“Probably more now. Well, your dad said that you are worth more to him than a thousand comics. That he valued you more than all of his possessions and all that he would ever acquire and for me to remember that tonight and treat you as such.”

“No pressure,” I laughed.

“Your dad really loves you Kaylee.”

“Clearly, not that he cared that much when I was a guy,” I said, feeling old resentment resurface. “I was just a disappointment to him then. I probably wasn’t even worth a mangled copy of Howard the Duck to him back then.”

“Come on, you know that’s not true,” Seth replied.

“You haven’t been around him Seth to see the way he treats me now. Before, all he did was ride me and remind me how crappy I was at sports, now he’s so ‘proud of me’ for my good grades. I got good grades as a guy too,” I said, my voice rising. “This year, as a girl, he gets me a 32 gig iPhone. You remember what I got last year as a guy?” I didn’t wait for an answer. “A fucking video game, Prototype 2 to be precise. To be fair I liked it at the time, I just didn’t know that if I’d had tits I’d have gotten a fucking iPhone.”

“You don’t know that Kaylee. You could’ve gotten the iPhone this year as a Keith as well,” Seth placated.

“Yeah right and I all I’d have to do as a guy is bat my eyes and he’d give me 200 bucks too I suppose. My dad was an asshole to me as a guy; now I walk on water. That’s one thing I’m not looking forward to returning to, not that we’re ever going to find that store.”

“We’ll find it Kaylee, it’s just a matter of time,” Seth replied.

“I don’t know anymore,” I said dejectedly. “I think I’m going to be a girl for the rest of my life.”

When we arrived I slipped my arm through Seth’s and held onto him while we walked up to Lauren’s house. It was a large house which she shared with a couple other people and it was a joint party that all the roomies were throwing. This made for a very large, very diverse group of people. It took a while of winding through the crowded rooms to finally find Lauren in the kitchen playing barkeep. She gave me a big hug once she saw me.

“Wow, Kaylee you look amazing!” She shouted, trying to be heard over the techno music blaring from the next room. “I’ve only ever seen you in your soccer gear before; you have a great style.” She turned to Seth. “You’d better hold on to her tight tonight Seth; otherwise one of these guys will try and snatch her away from you.” She told him. “You look nice too by the way. You two have fun, I’ll see you later.”

We wandered around the place and it was mostly people talking and drinking inside and people talking, drinking and smoking outside. We decided to stay inside and talk together, not that we could hear each other very well over the music. A couple teammates wandered by at various times and we exchanged pleasantries. After an hour people started dancing together in the center of the room. Seth asked me if I would like to dance, but I declined. I told him I needed to pee and would be back in a few minutes.

Unfortunately there was a massive line to the bathroom and comprised entirely of women. I suspected most of the guys had found a private place in the back yard to take a piss. I know I would have done the same thing a couple weeks ago when I was a guy. That was one thing that definitely sucked about being a girl; I really missed taking a piss standing.

Eventually it was my turn and I quickly did my business and then touched up my lips before making my way back into the throng of people to find Seth. At first I couldn’t find him; he wasn’t where I’d left him. Then I saw that he was actually in the middle of the room dancing with a tall, blonde girl I didn’t recognize. I didn’t know why, but I suddenly got very angry. My first impulse was to walk over to them, grab the girl by the hair and scream at her ‘Get your own guy, slut’, but then I remembered that this was the whole point of our little charade. I’d been pretending all week that I was Seth’s girlfriend so that this very thing would happen.

After a few minutes the song ended and they said something to each other and she went one way and Seth walked over to me.

“Enjoying yourself I see,” I said.

“Oh, her? She’s here with someone else, but he didn’t want to dance, so I said I would,” Seth explained. “He actually thanked me for offering to dance with her.”

I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the center of the room. “I changed my mind, I want to dance now,” I said.

I didn’t really know how to dance, but I didn’t care at the moment. If Seth was going to dance with someone tonight it was going to be me. I was hesitant at first, but when I saw Seth smiling at me and bobbing to the beat I joined in and tried to forget about all the people around us. A couple songs later I really started to get into it. The beat was so persuasive; I could feel it pounding throughout my body. Another couple songs and I began to lose myself in the music. It became a part of me; I was the music and the music was me. There was only me, the music and Seth.

We took a break after many more songs to answer nature’s call and find some drinks to quench our thirst. When we began to dance again I noticed that a lot of the guys were watching us, well me really. As I swayed to the music, I remembered back to the few parties I’d attended in high school. I remembered seeing the pretty girls dance, their bodies undulating to the music. I loved watching them; it was hot, erotic and somewhat sexual. I realized that tonight I was one of those girls. All the guys were watching me that way. It turned me on.

Several hours later Seth dropped me off at home. We made plans for an all day road trip to a couple malls in a city in another part of the state. Once inside I headed upstairs and kicked Jenny’s shoes off my aching feet. Dancing had been fun, but doing it in heels did a number on the feet. I walked over to Jenny’s room, my nylon clad feet slick on the hardwood floors.

“Jenny, you awake?” I asked quietly from outside her door. When there was no response I headed back to my room to remove my makeup and get ready for bed.

When I awoke in the morning I discovered that Jenny wasn’t home. My mom informed me over breakfast that she had an early appointment with the florist and wouldn’t be back for a few hours. This meant that I’d be gone on my road trip by the time she returned. I found I was fairly disappointed. I yearned to tell her about my evening and how Seth’s dancing with the blonde had made me feel. I thought about calling her, but I figured she had enough on her plate without me adding to it. I went solo on my makeup for the first time and was pleased with the results.

Seth and I played trivia games during our four hour drive to our destination. We would name three actors from a movie and the other had to guess the title. We tried to pick the most obscure actor we could think of to screw with the other person. It was a lot of fun and we laughed a lot as usual. When we arrived, just before we exited the car, I did something that even surprised me. As soon as Seth unbuckled I slid over, grabbed his head and began kissing him. He was surprised at first, but soon got into it. We kissed for a couple minutes.

“What was that for?” He asked when we finally stopped.

“I don’t know, I just felt like kissing you,” I replied. “Don’t make a big deal out of it, okay.”

When we left the car I took hold of his hand like we’d been doing all week, but there was little chance of a classmate seeing us this far from home. Seth looked down at our hands and smiled, but said nothing.

As we walked through the mall I wondered what I was doing. When I agreed to be Seth’s pretend girlfriend I had set firm boundaries so he wouldn’t get the wrong idea and try to take things too far, but here I was breaking one of the rules myself. I looked down at my hand in his and told myself to let go. I told myself that it wasn’t too late, just let go of his hand and make up some excuse for the kiss in the car, but I didn’t let go. I didn’t want to. I thought back to last night, dancing with Seth and how much fun it had been. I thought about the convention when Seth had stood up for me, all the fun we’d had together on the four hour drive. I thought about the years we’d known each other and how much he’d always meant to me. I then thought of the girl he’d danced with last night and it occurred to me that I didn’t want to lose him to some blonde hussy.

“Want to catch a movie?” I asked when we passed the mall’s theater complex.

“Okay, what do you want to see?” he asked. He looked a little confused.

“I don’t know, let’s see what’s playing,” I replied.

It turned out that there was a movie starting in a few minutes, but it was a lame family comedy that normally we’d have avoided like the plague. I told Seth I wanted to see that movie. He shrugged and bought a couple tickets. Inside he bought a bucket of popcorn and a couple drinks. The movie had been out for a few weeks so the theater was deserted. I led Seth to the back row. As soon as we sat, I pulled up the arm rest between us, pulled Seth’s arm around me and snuggled up against him. He held me tightly while I laid my head on his shoulder. After a few moments I looked up at him; he looked back at me. I moved my head slightly toward his and he quickly closed the gap and we were kissing again. After a couple minutes Seth pulled away.

“What’s going on Kaylee?” Seth asked. “I’m not complaining, but what are we doing?”

“Don’t talk,” I whispered. I grabbed him behind the neck and pulled his lips back to mine.

We continued to kiss through the previews. Once the movie started I pulled away. “Hold me while we watch the movie, okay? I want to watch the movie holding onto each other.” My face felt hot and my panties damp.

Seth agreed and grabbed the popcorn and set it on his lap, I suspected to cover his excitement. We shared the popcorn while snuggled together and watched a pretty lame movie. It was one of the best movie going experiences I’d had up to that point.

We didn’t talk a lot during the drive to and search of the second mall. We held onto each other and enjoyed being together.

On the drive home we started up another trivia game to pass the time. We were laughing and joking again within 20 minutes of our four hour trip home. When we got to my house it was after 11pm; Seth walked me to my front door.

I took hold of both of Seth’s hands. “Seth, I don’t want to pretend anymore.”

He looked at me in shock and horror. “What do you mean?”

“Can I be your girlfriend for real?” I asked, looking at the ground.

Seth lifted my chin. “Nothing would make me happier, Kaylee.” He lowered his face to mine and began to kiss me.

After a couple moments I pulled back an inch. “You know that rule about no French kissing?” I asked. “That was a stupid rule.”

Seth leaned in and began kissing me again. After a second his tongue entered my mouth and our tongues danced with each other. A few minutes later I felt his hands slide down to my bottom. I pulled his hands up and broke the kiss.

“The other two rules are still in effect, mister.” I admonished lightly. “Good night Seth, call me tomorrow, Okay?” I stretched up and gave him another quick kiss before retreating into my house.

Jenny woke me early Sunday morning with coffee and a barrage of questions. “I’m sorry I missed you yesterday, I’ve been dying to know how the party went,” she began.

I told her about the party and dancing with Seth. I also told her about the blonde and how my blood boiled initially. I told her about the movie and how I’d asked Seth if we could be boyfriend and girlfriend for real.

“What’d he say?” She asked immediately.

“Yes,” I squealed, smiling from ear to ear.

Jenny gave me a big hug, almost spilling our coffee. “I thought this might happen and I couldn’t be happier for you.”

“So is that why you encouraged me to pretend to be Seth’s girlfriend?” I asked.

“We tend to become what we pretend to be,” she said with a mischievous smile. “Plus, you two have been friends for so long, it only seemed natural.”

“Well, thank you. I’m glad your plan worked, although I don’t know what I’m going to do if I find that store now. It’ll be pretty awkward being around Seth as a guy after we’ve French kissed.”

“So, you’re still sticking to that game?” She asked with a frown. “Don’t you think it’s time you dropped it Kaylee?”

I was at a loss for a moment. “You still don’t believe me?” I asked in a small voice.

“Hang on a moment.” She grabbed our empty coffee cups and headed out of the room. A few minutes later she returned with two full cups of coffee resting on four photo albums which she was carried horizontally. I jumped up and grabbed the coffee. Jenny sat on the bed and opened one of the albums. I wrapped myself in my robe and sat next to her. She started turning pages until she came to a page with a series of photos of a birthday party. It was a young girl’s party and by the decorations it looked like a Dora the Explorer themed party. I recognized my mom and dad in the photos and even my sister, who looked to be around twelve. I didn’t recognize the birthday girl, but I could guess that it was me. Counting the candles on the birthday cake it looked to be my seventh birthday.

“Does any of this look familiar?” Jenny asked while looking at the photos.

“No,” I replied. “I remember my seventh birthday, but it was SpongeBob, not Dora.”

She looked at me with a concerned expression. “Perhaps you have some weird kind of amnesia, we should probably tell Mom and Dad. A doctor might be able to help you.”

“A doctor can’t help me, not in the way you think. I know it’s crazy and you don’t have to believe me, but it really did happen. I might think I was just going crazy, but Seth remembers me as Keith too.”

“I don’t know what to think Kaylee,” she said looking confused. “I’ve never known you to lie, but here is physical proof, pictures of you growing up a girl.”

“I know. I don’t know what to say.” I paused a moment. “Can you tell me about my past? Can we go through these photos and tell me about growing up together? I want to know.”

“Sure thing Kaylee, it could be fun,” she said, looking at little sad.

We had fun though. We started back at my birth, being five at the time she still remembered seeing her baby sister for the first time. She said it was like Mom had brought her home her very own real live baby doll. This was something she had said back when I was Keith too. It probably explained why we were always so close.

Jenny regaled me with stories of my youth, while we browsed the photos in the albums. Some of the stories and photos were very similar to the past I remembered as Keith. There were pictures of a camping trip that looked like nothing had changed except my gender. There were other pictures of events that didn’t happen when I was Keith. After several hours and much more coffee my phone rang. It was Seth. I kicked Jenny out of my room as I answered it.

“Afternoon sweetie,” I said.

“Hey baby,” Seth replied.

I lay down on the bed with my feet in the air and played with my hair while we talked for the next thirty minutes.

“Oh, before I forget my mom wants you to come to family dinner tonight. We can watch Game of Thrones after,” Seth said.

“Umm, Sunday dinner? I thought that was for your family only. I’ve know you for how many years and she never invited me before.”

“Well, it’s for family and their dates.”

“Oh,” I said.

“Look, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to. You can come after and we can still watch Game of Thrones like normal,” he said quickly.

“No, I’ll come to dinner. It just took me by surprise is all. So, your mom knows that I’m your girlfriend now?”

“Yeah, I didn’t say anything while we were pretending, but now that it’s real I told her. Is that okay?”

“It’s fine,” I replied.

“I’ll pick you up at five tonight,” he said. “See you then Kaylee.”

“Bye Seth.”

I told Jenny about dinner and she suggested I wear a dress. I didn’t think I was ready to wear a dress, but she said that if the dinner was as sacrosanct as I made it out to be, then a dress was in order. She found a dress in my closet that looked like I’d probably worn it to church for Easter. It was yellow, had short sleeves, a thick ribbon that tied around the waist, and fell to just below my knees.

She had me wear the dress and practice sitting and standing for the next twenty minutes. She found some flats she thought went well with the dress and then dragged me to the garage and had me practice getting in and out of the car.

At four I showered and dressed. Jenny had me go very lightly with the makeup so it looked like I wasn’t even wearing any. For jewelry I wore the butterfly necklace Jenny had given me and studs in the ears. Jenny put my hair in a loose pony tail and tied it with a yellow ribbon. I stayed in my room and stressed for the next twenty minutes until I got a text from Seth saying he’d arrived.

I raced downstairs and met him at the door.

“Bye everyone!” I yelled back to the inside of the house and then closed the front door.

I threw my arms around Seth and gave him a big kiss. After the kiss, Seth looked at my outfit. “Wow, a dress.”

“Am I over dressed?” I felt my face go red. “I can change real quick”

“No! You look great. You are so pretty, Kaylee. I’m so fucking lucky.”

“Oh good. You had me worried for a minute,” I said, relaxing a little. I smiled. “Yes, you are lucky.” I slid my arm through his. “And so am I.”

His mom gushed over me for many minutes when we arrived. I think she had wanted Seth to bring a girl to the family dinner for some time. Dinner was awkward and I didn’t eat much, not that I ate that much these days, my appetite had diminished dramatically along with my stature, but tonight I ate even less than normal. I was very nervous and had no appetite. I tried to eat enough to be what I hoped was polite; no one said anything so perhaps I was successful. I’d been to Seth’s house many times in the past, but this was different. Seth and I were now officially an item in his family’s eyes.

After dinner Seth and I retreated to his family room and played some X-Box. Now that I no longer had my own console this was the only place I could play. I wondered if it looked weird, me dressed up like Mary Poppins and splattering zombies with an AK-47.

“I don’t think I’ll have much time for mall searches this week,” I said after we’d been playing for a few minutes. “I need to help Jenny with wedding stuff, Maid of Honor duties you know.”

“I can search without you,” Seth offered.

“No, it’s all right. You don’t have to waste your time.”

“I don’t mind really, it’s all my fault anyway. I should’ve just bought you ‘Dead Island Riptide’ from Game Stop like I’d originally planned.”

“It’s all right Seth,” I replied. “It’s not your fault.”

We played for a few more minutes. “I hope you don’t hate me for saying this, but I’m kind of happy it happened.” Seth stopped playing the game and looked at me. “I liked you as Keith, you were my best friend, but I really like you as Kaylee. Perhaps it won’t be that bad if we don’t find that store.”

I smiled. “Yeah, it won’t be that bad.” I put down the game controller and kissed him.

Monday morning at school and soccer at night were much the same as they had been the previous week, but this time we weren’t putting on a show. This time the hand holding and kissing were expressions of our feelings for each other, which only seemed to grow. I also had a new nickname at soccer, ‘Dancing Queen’.

Tuesday night my mom and I helped Jenny decide on a seating chart for the wedding reception while we made placards. Later Jenny and I had a cram session on all of her bridesmaids whom I was supposed to know fairly well.

Wednesday night it was Seth’s turn to be my date at family dinner. Zack was in town and my mom went all out. I decided to not only wear a skirt, but I also went solo on the makeup and hair again. Seth appreciated it when I dressed up and I appreciated him appreciating me.

Apparently being a date at my family’s dinner didn’t affect Seth’s appetite as it had mine at his. He was on seconds before I was halfway done with my first, and only, plate. My mom took it as a compliment so it was all good. After dinner Seth joined Zack and my dad in the family room to watch the Mariner’s play against the Angels while Jenny and I helped our mom clean up. Once the table was clean we all played Apples to Apples for a while. It was nice doing things with Seth and my family. They accepted our new status readily and gladly.

That night as I prepared for bed it dawned on me that my one on one time with Jenny was probably at an end. The wedding was days away and with Zack here the chances of getting any quality time with her were very slim. Once the wedding was over she would be on her honeymoon and then back east again. We’d grown so close in these last couple weeks and I’d come to depend on her so much, not only the lessons in femininity, but also as my confidant. Jenny had even commented that ‘my game’ had brought us closer than we had ever been. I was going to miss her dearly.

Thursday was the big time for me. It was Jenny’s bachelorette party and apparently I’d planned it over a month ago. I winged it as best as I could. Everyone’s focus was firmly on Jenny, so that fact that I forgot a name or two and didn’t know the rules to half the games I’d planned were passed off as nerves and me stressing for my sister’s big day. I was accepted as one of the girls though and at the end of the night was the only one sober enough to drive. I ended up calling cabs for everyone but Jenny, whom I drove home myself. It was the first time driving in a long time and my first time as a girl; I didn’t do too badly, even in a skirt and wearing three inch heels.

On Friday I began packing as soon as I got home from school. Jenny’s wedding was at the coast and my dad had booked rooms for the entire wedding party and their significant others at the hotel where the wedding was being held. Since it was Memorial Day weekend he booked them for Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. He reluctantly sprang for a room for Seth at a neighboring motel; the rooms at all the hotels were fully booked at this late date. It took a lot of repeating ‘Please Daddy’ and eyelash batting, but I got him to cave in the end.

Seth was picking me up in an hour and then we’d make the three hour drive to arrive just in time for the wedding rehearsal. Everyone else had left earlier in the day, but Seth and I both had couple tests that day. Teacher’s loved having tests on Fridays; it kept students from starting the weekend early I guess.

We made it just in time for the rehearsal. The wedding itself was being held in the hotel’s courtyard which faced the beach. We ran through the ceremony a couple times before heading inside for the rehearsal dinner, which was being catered by the hotel in one of their private rooms. I began to understand why my dad didn’t want to spend any more money; this thing must be costing him a fortune. I didn’t eat much again. This time it was because I was stressing over a speech I was giving in mere minutes. Jenny had decided that the Best Man would give a speech at the wedding reception, but she wanted her Maid of Honor to give a speech at the rehearsal dinner. Jenny had offered to write it for me, but I figured it was time to put all those lessons in my college English class to some practical use.

When it looked like everyone was done eating I stood and tapped a spoon on my water glass. “Everyone,” I said, trying to project as much as my frazzled nerves would allow. Apparently it wasn’t enough as everyone kept talking. I tried again, but they still kept talking. I felt embarrassed and pretty insignificant.

“Everyone!” My dad roared. “Kaylee has something to say so shut up.” The room went silent.

I was really embarrassed now. “Please fill your glasses,” I said meekly. “I’m going to give a speech followed by a toast.”

Several people grabbed wine bottles and began to fill their glasses. Seth grabbed my hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze. Once the room settled down and most eyes were back on me I began. “As you all know we are here in preparation for Zack and Jenny’s big day tomorrow. My name is Kaylee Anderson and it is my privilege to be not only the Maid of Honor, but also the bride’s sister.” I found I meant it, I was happy to be her sister. “It hasn’t always been easy growing up in the shadow of someone so beautiful and intelligent and for some it might make them bitter, but Jenny has always been so gracious and caring that it has always been a blessing to me instead of a curse. I have looked up to her from the time I could lift my head and she has been a guiding light in my life. She’s always been there for me, always cared for me, always trusted me.” I looked directly at Jenny. “At times I’ve told her outlandish tales, ones she could scarcely believe, and whether she truly believed or not, she would always act as if she did, helping me in whatever ever silly way I might need. I’ve never doubted for a moment that she loves me. In my darkest moments she has been there for me, so it is my honor to be there for her brightest.” I looked at Zack. “I’m sorry I don’t know you that well yet Zack, but I look forward to getting to know you better as my brother-in-law. One thing I do know is that Jenny loves you more than she has ever loved anything else and that if you love her even half as much as she loves you then yours is a love for the ages.” I turned looked back at everyone. “Please raise your glasses to Zack and Jenny!”

“To Zack and Jenny!” echoed everyone in the room.

Jenny jumped up with tears in her eyes and grabbed me in a tight hug. “I believe you Kaylee,” she whispered in my ear. “I love you,” she said louder.

“I love you too,” I replied as I joined her in a good cry.

After dinner Seth helped me bring my bags up to my room. It was on one of the upper floors facing the beach and had a large balcony. My dad had really dropped some serious cash this weekend. I knew he made good money, but he must make a lot more than I realized. Afterwards we visited Seth’s room and I apologized that it wasn’t nicer. He told me not to be silly, that he was thrilled that my dad had paid for his stay. It was dark out and we decided to walk along the beach together. We walked silently hand in hand for nearly an hour. I began to get cold and said we should probably go in.

“Hang on, I’ve got an idea,” he said. He began gathering driftwood. Catching on, I joined him and soon we had a fairly decent pile. Seth ran down the beach to a group that had a fire already going strong. He ran back with a blazing stick looking like an Olympic torch bearer. He used the stick to light our pile and soon we had our own private bonfire. We lay on the beach next to the fire and made out for most of the night.

Seth walked me to my room and we kissed goodnight outside my door. When I entered the room I saw that it was well after midnight, which meant that I had at most six hours of sleep before I needed to meet Jenny and the rest of the bridesmaids for breakfast, after which it was off to our 8am salon appointment.

I couldn’t sleep at first, memories of my time on the beach with Seth and what I wanted him to do to me played through my mind. I had wanted him so bad; I had gotten so wet while we made out. I knew he wanted me too, I felt his erection against my leg several times while we kissed by the fire. I eventually got up and took a short shower; afterwards I felt refreshed and found I could finally sleep.

After a continental breakfast in the morning with the girls we piled into a couple cars and headed to the salon, where we’d have our hair, nails and makeup done for the wedding, then it would be back to the hotel to get dressed before the ceremony which started at three. The salon opened early just for us. I don’t know if this was a standard practice for large parties or if my dad had greased some palms. Based on the way they treated us, I suspected the later.

Over the last few weeks I’d been getting more and more comfortable with being female and all things that went with it, the extra attention to personal grooming, the clothes, the makeup, kissing a boy, but this was a whole new level. I was in the deep end of the estrogen pool today. I have to admit that all the pampering was really nice. I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to do anything with my hands what with the white tipped talons I now possessed. They looked real nice though. My hair was highlighted, curled and styled to within an inch of its life. Jenny had nothing on the ladies at this salon when it came to applying makeup. I barley recognized myself when they’d finished with me. I looked amazing and Jenny looked even better. It was her day and she was more beautiful than she’d ever been and that is saying something.

The entire time we were at the salon the girls all talked about their significant others. Since it was a wedding they all gushed about their men, Jenny had told me earlier that this wasn’t always the case. Quite often it was a non-stop bitch session about the guys in their lives when they got together, but today it was all about how great their guys were and how it was clear that Zack was the best of the bunch. I stayed an observer as much as possible, but eventually I was dragged into the fray.

“So Kaylee, you seem pretty serious about Seth,” said Cathy, one of the bridesmaids.

“Yeah, he’s all right,” I replied sheepishly

“Just all right?” she retorted. “Then that must have been a different Kaylee and Seth I saw all hot and heavy on the beach last night.” I felt my face go red.

“They started out just pretending,” Jenny told the group.

“Oh my god shut up Jenny!” I cried.

“Oh come on, I think it’s such a sweet story,” she replied. “Please let me tell them.”

“Fine, go ahead,” I told her. I wanted to crawl under one of the chairs.

“Well anyway, Seth and Kaylee have been friends since grade school, practically two peas in a pod, but always totally platonic. Well, recently they got the idea that since girls tend to gravitate to guys who are already taken they would pretend to be involved so that Seth would have a better chance with the girls. So, they started holding hands and would give each other quick little kisses at school so everyone would think they were dating. This went on for about a week, but then they realized they didn’t want to pretend anymore and started dating for real. Isn’t that so sweet?”

The other ladies all agreed with Jenny while I plotted a truly special revenge for my sister.

Once back at the hotel all of the bridesmaids put on their dresses, a task I found much more difficult with long fingernails, and then we began helping Jenny into hers. My dress, which matched all the other bridesmaids’ dresses, was a salmon colored, strapless, floor length gown. The shoes were silver sandals and looked to be three plus inches. We had just started helping Jenny into her wedding dress when I got a call from Seth. I ignored the first call, but when he immediately called again I knew it was important. I excused myself from the room as I took the call.

“This isn’t the best time, we are in the middle of dressing my sister,” I said.

“I found the store,” he replied.

“What?”

“The Spells R Us store, it’s at a mall not too far from here. I got an email from that newsgroup, so I raced over there and it’s there all right, but the wizard won’t sell me the candle. He says its one to a customer. He said he’d sell it to you though.”

“I can’t leave now; my sister is getting married in couple hours.”

“The store will be gone by then Kaylee; we have to go now. I’m on my way to the hotel right now. I should be there in five minutes. I’ll get you back in time for the wedding, I promise.” Seth said earnestly.

“Okay, I’ll meet you at the hotel entrance.”

I made my way back into the room and asked to speak to my sister in private. Jenny asked all the other women to step out for a couple minutes.

“What’s going on Kaylee?” She looked concerned. “That was Seth wasn’t it?”

“Yes, he says he found the store and it’s near here. He says it may not be there later and we should go now, but I don’t want to leave you.”

“Go,” she said simply. “But be back in time, please.”

“I will.” I gave her a hug. “Thank you,” I said and then hurried out of the room. I told the other women they could go back in as I made my way to the hotel’s entrance.

Seth was waiting for me and he sped the entire way to the mall. We rushed in and Seth led me to the elusive Spells R Us store. When we reached it he said I should go in by myself and that if I needed anything to just call. I made my way through shelves crammed with some truly bizarre merchandise whose function I didn’t even want to contemplate. Near the back I spotted a grandfatherly looking gentleman in a bathrobe.

“Hello Kaylee, I’ve been expecting you,” said the wizard. “Or should I call you Keith?”

“Expecting me? I’ve been searching for you for a couple weeks now, why did you make us drive all over the place?”

“I was there at the mall that first night. If you had come right away and skipped the soccer game you would have been able to change back that first night. Personally I think you made the right choice. You helped your team win and think of all you would have missed over the last several weeks if you changed back into Keith right away. You have come a long way in these last few weeks Kaylee. You started out not knowing anything about being female and now, well…you look like the belle of the ball and you move as graceful as a swan.”

“Have you…have you been watching me?” I asked.

“I like to keep an eye on those who partake in my magic,” he replied. “I have what you are looking for,” he said while handing me a small box. “This box contains a candle that will grant a single wish, but only you. Now you had better hurry, you don’t want to worry your sister unnecessarily on her big day.”

“That’s it?”

“Was there something else you needed?”

“No, I guess not, I thought there would be more fanfare or something.”

“I don’t like to show boat. I hope you wish wisely,” he said and turned and headed into the back room.

I opened the box and inside was a candle, not unlike the one I had wished upon just nineteen days ago. I made my way out of the store, walked up to Seth and looked at him for a few moments, not saying anything. I looked at the box in my hand for a moment and then back at Seth.

“Did you get it?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said quietly. “Let’s get back; I don’t want to worry my sister unnecessarily.” I slipped my arm through Seth’s and let him lead me back to his car. I don’t remember much of the trip back; I was too lost in thought. I could be Keith again. I really didn’t think we’d ever find that store and in the meantime I’d given myself fully to being female. I could be a guy again. I’d really fallen hard for Seth in the last week; I think I loved him. I could have a cock again. I just wasn’t sure it was my cock I wanted now.

Once we arrived back at the hotel I gave Seth a kiss and hurried back into the hotel to help Jenny. By the time I returned Jenny was fully dressed. Once she saw me she gave me a look as if to ask ‘Well?’. I gave her a smile and a thumbs up. This only seemed to confuse her. I moved in close and pretended like I was straightening her veil.

“I was able to get what I needed,” I whispered in her ear.” I’ll tell you all about it later. Everything is good.” This seemed to placate her.

The next several hours had me too busy to worry about the decision that loomed before me. With help from the other bridesmaids we spent the remaining time before the ceremony calming Jenny’s nerves and letting her know how perfect the wedding was going to be. Someone should have talked to Mother Nature. While it didn’t rain, a minor miracle in the Pacific Northwest, we were graced with what felt like gale force winds.

As I walked up the isle holding on to the arm of the Best Man, it felt like I was being hit with a sand blaster. My skirt and hair whipped in the wind. I could see the other bridesmaids trying to keep their skirts down, protect their hair and hold their bouquets all at the same time. I hoped the pastor wasn’t one of those long winded types. Once in my place I found Seth in the crowd and gave him a small wave. Soon ‘Here Comes the Bride’ began to play and the most beautiful woman dressed all in white began walking up the isle with my dad. Even with the wind it was a beautiful ceremony. I cried along with the other bridesmaids during most of the ceremony and it wasn’t just because of the sand in our eyes.

After the ceremony it was a dash to the bathroom to repair our hair and makeup before the wedding photos. After a couple hundred photos I was finally able to rejoin Seth, who was dressed in a nice suit. It was the first time I’d seen him in a tie. He looked so handsome. He raved about how I looked, something he failed to do on our way to the mall, but since we had other things on our minds at the time I decided to forgive him.

During dinner and just after the Best Man’s rambling speech Zack stood up and said he had an announcement. “When I asked Jenny to marry me and she said yes, thus making me the happiest man on earth, she asked for one thing. She asked that we have the wedding here close to all of her friends and family. After that she said she would follow me to the ends of the earth.” He turned to Jenny. “Jenny, my love, I know how much you love me and I also know how much you love your family. A point driven fully home last night during Kaylee’s beautiful speech. While I know you would live a world away from them to be with me, I can no longer ask that of you. I’m happy to tell you that I have accepted your father’s offer to work at his firm. We can start looking for a house as soon as we return from our honeymoon.”

Jenny jumped up and showered Zack with kisses. I saw my mom kiss my dad and then punch him in the arm. I guess it was a surprise to her as well. My vision began to blur. My sister was going to live close by again; I was so happy.

After dinner and the cutting of the cake Seth joined the other eligible bachelors for the tossing of my sister’s garter. He didn’t catch it. While he can kick a ball much better than I, apparently I ‘m a much better catch having caught my sister’s bouquet.

Once all of the official wedding events were finished it was time for the band and dancing. The first dance was reserved for Jenny and Zack. After that it was a free-for-all. Seth and I lived on the dance floor that night. I kept my dance moves much more subdued than at Lauren’s party. We were occasionally broken apart by requests to dance with others. I danced with my dad, Zack, several uncles and even Jenny at one point. When Seth started dancing with my mom I stopped dancing with my uncle and found the wedding photographer and had him snap some shots of the two dancing together. While we’d promised Lauren that we wouldn’t drink at her party we made no such promises tonight. The champagne flowed freely that night and the bar was mostly unattended. While we didn’t get fall down drunk, we definitely got drunk. It was a glorious night.

After a several hours Seth and I slipped away and made our way up to my room. We kissed our way to the bed and resumed what we had started on the beach the previous night. I broke away after several minutes.

“Seth, no more rules. You can touch me anywhere,” I breathed.

His hands went immediately to my breasts. His touch was so urgent and so needy, he could barley control himself. This night had one destination and I was ready for it; I wanted nothing more than him at that moment, all of him. I reached down and began to stroke his manhood through his slacks. Suddenly he pulled away and then abruptly he stood up.

“We can’t do this Kaylee,” he said out of breath.

“Why not, don’t you want me?” I asked, panting.

“Kaylee you’ve got the candle now, you can be Keith again. We shouldn’t do this if you’re going to be a guy again.”

“I don’t care about that, I want to have sex as a girl, I want to have sex with you; don’t you want me?

“Yes, desperately, but not when we’re drunk; I don’t think we should do this when we’re drunk. I want to do it with you, but only when it is truly what you want to do and not because you’ve had too much champagne.”

“It’s not that, I swear. I really want you and it’s not the alcohol.” I stood up and walked over to him. “Seth, I wanted you last night. I wanted to do it on the beach last night and so did you.”

“I need to go,” he replied.

“Don’t leave me,” I cried. “We don’t have to do it, but please stay. Don’t leave me alone.”

“I’m sorry Kaylee, I want to stay, but if I do I won’t be able to hold back. I want you too much. I’ll see you tomorrow.” And with that he left the room.

I fell onto the bed and began to cry. A few minutes later I was interrupted by a phone call. It was Seth.

“Hey sweetie,” I said.

“Kaylee, please don’t use the candle tonight. I want to see you again before you do.”

“Okay,” I answered. “I promise.”

After I hung up I undressed and made my way to the bathroom. I drew a hot bath and soaked while thinking of Seth’s lips on mine and his hands on my breasts. My left hand eventually made its way to my breast and my right hand to my pussy. I hadn’t masturbated since becoming a girl; I’d barely gotten used to even touching my nether regions. I wasn’t going to stop tonight. I may have been denied pleasure from Seth, but I wasn’t going to deny myself. I pinched my nipple while my right hand began to work my clit. Holy god that thing was sensitive. I got myself worked up pretty quickly and soon was moaning aloud. I moved my left hand down and slipped my fingers easily into my eager pussy. I flicked my clit with my right hand, while fingers from my left went in and out, and my mouth called out Seth’s name. I hoped no one I knew was in the adjoining room, because they surely heard the resulting scream.

I awoke Sunday morning with cotton mouth and a headache and guessed I was experiencing my first hangover. I looked at the clock and jumped out of bed and nearly fell over as my brain flopped in my head and my breasts flopped on my naked body. I struggled to remember why I was naked. I never slept in the nude. I remembered Seth in my room and his too quick departure, I then recalled the episode in the tub and how it had carried over to the bed. Once I finally experienced my first orgasm I had found it hard to stop. It was a lot different than when I was a guy; back then it was usually one and done. Last night though, after my first orgasm, the horniness didn’t vanish immediately like when I was a guy. I had wanted to do it again…and again.

I thought about masturbating this morning, but the only thing I felt like doing at the moment was vomiting. I looked at the clock again and remembered why I had sprung out of bed. I was supposed to meet my family for breakfast thirty minutes ago. I looked for my phone and found it on the floor next to the bed buried under the bed’s comforter. I had a lot of missed calls from Jenny and my mom; they were going to be pissed. I texted Jenny and told her I would be down in about thirty minutes and headed to the bathroom to repair last night’s damage and hopefully get myself looking like I hadn’t been drinking all night.

They weren’t mad after all. They all looked like morning had come too early for them as well. I had called Seth on elevator ride to the restaurant and he was suffering from a hangover too. I had some more Maid of Honor things to do before we drove my sister and her new husband to the local airport. I invited Seth to accompany us to see them off and he readily agreed.

After Breakfast Jenny began opening presents with Zack. I took copious notes for all the thank you cards that Jenny would be sending out after her two week honeymoon in Venice. The trip was a present from Zack’s folks. I guess they were loaded too. After opening a couple hundred presents Jenny and I were finally able to get a few minutes alone together.

I pulled the box the wizard had given me yesterday from my purse and showed it to Jenny. She opened it and stared at the candle. “This is it?” She asked. “This will turn you back into a guy?”

“Well, the wizard said it was good for one wish, but only by me,” I replied.

“So, now you can be Keith again?” She asked.

“I don’t know if I can anymore,” I said. “Zack says that he decided to accept Daddy’s offer only after my speech.”

“So?”

“Don’t you get it? If I go back to being Keith I won’t have given that speech and you’ll be living on the east coast again.”

“You don’t know that,” she replied.

“I won’t be your Maid of Honor, hell I wasn’t even in the wedding party as Keith.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that.” Jenny looked saddened. “You can’t worry about where I may or may not live Kaylee; you need to decide for you and not for anyone else, not even Seth.”

“He is the main reason I want to stay a girl, but there are other reasons too,” I said. “You have shown me how great being a girl can be. You’ve made it possible for me to envision a life as a woman.”

“I’m glad I could help Kaylee,” she said. “Please know that I will love you no matter what you decide.”

By the time we were seeing my sister off at the airport I was feeling much better physically. After a bunch of tearful farewells Seth drove me back to the hotel. He said he wanted to take me to dinner in an hour and left me so I could get ready. An hour later I was nearly finished with my makeup when Seth knocked on my door. I let him in and had him wait while I finished. I found my heels and leaned on Seth while I put them on. He was in a tie again. I could get used to seeing him dressed up.

He walked me down the boardwalk that ran along the town’s beach to a small restaurant, which had a beautiful view of the ocean. The restaurant was small, quaint and dark. Each table was lit by candle and had a very intimate feel. After we ordered Seth took my hand in his.

“Kaylee, I...umm…I…ahh,” he struggled.

“I have something I want to give you,” I interrupted.

I don’t think he was expecting that response. “What do you have for me?”

I reached into my purse and pulled out the box that held the candle. “I want you to have this,” I said as I handed him the box. “You keep it. I’m going to stay Kaylee and as long as you have the candle you’ll know that I’m staying that way.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I thought about it a lot and I like being a girl,” I replied. “I like being pretty, I like the way people treat me now and when I get married I want to be the beautiful bride like my sister.”

I could see tears in his eyes as leaned over and began kissing me. “I got you something for you too; I bought it last week. I didn’t think we’d ever find that store and it has been so amazing being with you as Kaylee. When we found the store I didn’t think I’d give it to you since you’d be Keith again soon. After last night I thought I would give it to you anyway but I wasn’t sure if I should, but now that you want to stay Kaylee…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, rounded box covered in black velvet. “I love you Kaylee and I want to be with you always.” He opened the box and inside was a rose colored ring with a heart in the center made of what looked like tiny diamonds. “This is a promise ring and with it I promise to be with you for as long as you’ll have me.”

Now it was my turn to cry. I found I was shaking a little as he slid it on the ring finger of my right hand. “It’s so beautiful Seth, I love you too.” We began kissing again.

I couldn’t eat after that. Throughout dinner I kept staring at my ring. I’d hold my right hand out, fingers stretched and marvel at how it sparkled in the candle light. As usual Seth’s appetite wasn’t daunted.

After dinner Seth walked me to my room and I invited him in. We were at each other the moment the door closed. We tore at each other’s clothes and couldn’t get undressed fast enough. Seth struggled with my bra strap briefly before I reached back and undid it for him. I suspected it wouldn’t be much longer before he was a master at removing my bra for me. As soon as I let my bra fall to the floor Seth was all over my breasts. He was ravenous and I was his sustenance. His tongue on my nipples had me squirming and seconds. We worked our way toward the bed and soon he was on top of me. I reached down and slid my hand inside his underwear and grasped his erection. Between the feelings of his mouth on my breasts and his rigid cock in my hand I nearly came on the spot, as it was my panties were drenched.

Once I began to stroke him, he lowered himself a little and pulled my panties off and then his own underwear. His hand went to my sopping sex and he slid his hand up and down along the outer lips and would come tantalizingly close to my clit only to miss it; I would have to show him where that was later. His fingers found my vagina and he slipped a finger in easily; it was soon joined by a second.

“I need you Seth,” I groaned.

He pulled away from me and for a brief moment I was afraid he was going to leave again. He went to his pants and pulled out a package of condoms. I was glad someone was thinking. I’d totally forgotten that I could actually get pregnant now. While a very sobering thought it barely made a dent in the fire that was raging in my loins. Seth’s hands were shaking and he was struggling to open the package. I slid up behind him and took the package from him.

“Let me do that for you,” I said as I took the package and from him and opened it easily. I removed the condom and slid it easily over his towering erection. I pulled him back on top of me and wrapped my legs around his waist while helping guide his cock into me. I couldn’t help but cry out a little when he first began to enter me. His cock was much thicker than his fingers. When he heard my involuntary shriek of pain he jerked back and was out of me again.

“Are you okay?” He asked in a panic. “Did I hurt you?”

“I’m okay Seth, it just took me by surprise,” I whispered. I took hold of his cock again and placed it at my opening. “Just go slow at first, okay.”

He began to push into me again. It still hurt, but I was ready for it this time so I moaned instead of shrieking. He pulled back a little and then pushed in a little deeper. The pain began to subside and was replaced by the most amazing feeling from deep inside my pussy that quickly began to radiate throughout my entire body. Soon he was fully inside me and I could feel his balls slap against me as he pistoned in and out of me. All too quickly he went rigid and was roaring in orgasmic pleasure. I really hoped I didn’t know anyone on the other side of this wall in addition to the room next to the bathroom.

I didn’t orgasm during our first love making session, but the cuddling afterwards was very nice. I did orgasm on our next go around and the one after that as well. Playing soccer regularly had given Seth an amazing amount of endurance and we did our best to work our way through his condom supply that night.

The next morning I found a new favorite pleasure, waking up in Seth’s arms. I stayed that way for twenty minutes or so. It was so nice listening to him sleep snuggled next to him. I eventually arose and ordered some breakfast from room service. Seth slept on. I must have worn the poor boy out I thought with a smile on my face. He’d worn me out too, but in a different way, one that was making it difficult to walk. I slipped on a robe in anticipation of the arrival of coffee and danish. I gave the bellhop a generous tip, which I hoped would buy his silence. I was not ready to deal with my parent’s knowledge that I was now sexually active. I poured myself some coffee and sat on the room’s balcony and listened to the ocean’s waves. I was so glad I’d decided to stay Kaylee.

Once Seth awoke he ate while I packed. After another round on the bed he left to pack up himself. An hour later he was back and helped me with my bags. Just before I closed the door I decided to take a picture of the bed. I wanted a souvenir. On the way home I took a picture of the promise ring on my right hand and emailed it to Jenny. I didn’t want to call and interrupt her honeymoon. I figured she would call me when she had the time. For the rest of the trip Seth and I tested our trivia knowledge in geek culture.

Once at my house I dashed upstairs before saying hello to my parents. I’d forgotten to take a shower at the hotel and I needed to clean myself before my mom or dad got a strong whiff of sex on me. Seth picked me up for our soccer game a few hours later. Once we arrived at the field the girls all fawned over my ring. I couldn’t wait to show it to Ashley at school tomorrow. After the game, which we won, I was standing with Seth talking to Lauren when she suddenly looked up and pointed at the sky; it was a shooting star.

“Oh, a shooting star, make a wish Kaylee,” she said.

“No, I already got my wish,” I replied and gave Seth a big squeeze.

The End

#my story #bridesmaid #wedding #mental tf #SRU #magic #wishes #transformation #involuntary #young adult #rated R #romance

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espytalks · 7 years ago

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a bunch of unorganized info about kaylee and her friends

(okay, i found the info i wrote. i haven't looked at it since i wrote it, which was months ago, so idk what’s all in here. it should be accurate though. i have to do stuff so i’ll double check this info later))

kaylee hid her blank flank until she got her mark.

she was very self conscious about her lack of cutie mark, and is uncomfortable without at least her saddlebags on in public.

she keeps her sketchbook and several pencils and sharpeners in that sketchbook

she does traditional art mostly for fun.

she freelances digital work.

she grew up in canterlot

her best friend is jasper, who she doesn’t realise has a crush on her. he hides it though because he doesn’t want thier friendship to change

jasper works at an animal shelter. Kaylee has done some art for the company because jasper talks very highly about her.

jasper suffers from an unkown sickness that he hides from everyone. he’s fine most days, but it gets bad very suddenly one day.

jasper never saw kaylee get her cutie mark. her family moved before she got it, and she got it on the train ride there.

Jasper came up with kaylee’s nickname, but often calls her Des.

kaylee is a huge animation fan, and dabbles in anime and a certain webcomic that may or may not be homestuc.

she owns plusies and/or figures from many of her interests.

Kaylee likes her cutie mark.

only one pony in ponyville know’s kaylee’s real name, and he doesn’t know that it is. He thinks it’s her roleplay name.

Kaylee is very defensive about her mark and her name. she won’t say when she got her mark, and she won’t answer if anyone points out her name isn’t a traditional pony one.

new town, new her.

she doesn’t make enough money from her art to live by herself, and she doesn’t want to.

she used to spend her free time with jasper. she spends most of her free time alone in ponyville.

she has a friend she met on her first day in ponyville named hidden.

they met at a party pinkie pie threw to celebrate rainbow dash’s sonic rainboom

hidden was only there because she was invited, and stood in a corner most of the time

hidden reminds kaylee about herself, and kaylee’s very understanding of her

hidden has a secret crush on kaylee.

kaylee doesn’t think she looks pretty. ditto with hidden.

they both think the other is pretty tho

kaylee is on the ace/aro specrum

Hidden doesn’t know what her cutie mark represents.

she got it on a day where she was giving some sort if presentation. she was dressed up and didn’t find out until she got home.

her best guess is that it means she’s good at being scared.

she actually got it by reassuring another pony going before her who was also scared.

kaylee’s magic is very unstable due to an accident from overuse.

she’s not allowed to use advanced magic because of it.

she sometimes does it anyways.

Kaylee’s natural hair color is black. she dyes it with magic.

an au kaylee where that accident didn’t happen could potentially put her along with twilight magic-wise, and her cutie mark would be different.

unless this changes, she is canonically friends with cover story, and roleplays as a superhero with him. she sometimes drags hidden with her.

she’s totes be down to learn how to play dungeons and dragons

on an unrelated note, I would totes be down to learn how to play dungeons and dragons if i had enough friends.

kaylee listens to audiobooks while drawing.

she loves electro swing music and dubstep, among many other genres.

hidden likes instramental covers and owl city

Jasper likes country and 80′s music.

basically, my idea for kaylee’s story is learning to accept and move on from loss.

i have a potential idea that jasper’s ghost looks over her.

oh yeah did i mention jasper died?

he kissed her though before he did. she didn’t know he loved her until then.

she feels very guilty about that. like wow it’s painful for her to think about

her alarm clock reminds her of ambulance sirens.

the blog starts sometime soon after she first moved to ponyville. his funeral was the day before she moved.

the blog takes place in season 1, sometime after sonic rainboom

i havent decided what her poison joke would be, but i have an idea of what discored kaylee would be like.

kaylee visits jasper’s grave and his family whenever she takes a trip to canterlot, which is usualy for art related things.

Their families were very close. she writes to them often, and includes pictures and drawings.

jasper would be so proud of how far she’s come.

unless it changes, she’s friends with lotus from another blog that i did art for. she did art and designs for him a few times.

she buys a bouquet from the same small business every time, and the owner knows her by name.

i have a potential idea for a love interest for kaylee involving an oc named orange sunrise, but i may or may not scrap it. if i do, he’s just a guy that see’s her often in the plaza while he sells apples. he think’s she’s pretty though.

she know’s pinkie pie, and of course pinkie knows her. pinkie know’s everyone. kaylee is kinda indifferent. Hidden doesn’t like her much because pinkie’s loud and hidden is very shy.

kaylee’s birthday is october 8th. she’s 17 at the start of the blog.

hidden’s birthday is in april. i forgot which day.

i havent decided for jasper.

kaylee has a mom, dad and brother, and they all live together

hidden and jasper are both only childs

jasper lived by himself, but was close with us parents

hidden lives with her parents. she’s unemployed.

i may have hidden work at honeydrop’s to boost her confidence in the future. she’s a frequent customer.

#espy talks #espy's ocs

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acourtofsnakes · 3 years ago

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Darasuum - Rogue, Chapter 27|| The Mandalorian x Force Sensitive! Reader (f)

Summary: You, Din and the kids arrive in Coruscant. After roaming a beautiful city, you retire to your room, where certain things may forever change the course of your lives.

Warning: Flufffffy, fluff, fluff, mentions of sex (nothing explicit), heart-meltingness

Word Count: 9.6k+

A/N: You all deserve this 🥰 Here’s the ring!!

Permanent Taglist: @greeneyedblondie44 @mamacitapascal @mypedrom @undiscovered-misunderstood @kaylee-krystal @queenofthefaceless @gallowsjoker

Rogue| The Mandalorian x Force Sensitive! Reader (f) Taglist: @snipskixandbeskar @weirdowithnobeardo @the-bottom-of-the-abyss @kenoobiwan @sarahjkl82-blog @boomtowngirl @goldielocks2004 @seninjakitey @what-iwish-you-knew @queenofthefaceless @rosiefridayrogersunday-reads @greeneyedblondie44 @itsnottilly @welcometothepedroverse @xgoldenjenny @mamacitapascal @heyitsjaybird @amyk-37 @greatcircle79 @mikariell95 @justdrawings101 @roxypeanut @bugswillbe-boys

Introduction

Mando’a Translation: Darasuum - Eternal

Coruscant was a dense planet, covered in a sprawling city. The population sits at roughly one trillion inhabitants, of different species and social standing.

It’s located at the end of several major trade routes, which has allowed it to grow in power and influence and easily surpass any of its rival planets. It became the hub of culture with the best education, finance districts, politics, technology centres, fine art and entertainment. There’s also the Grand Republic Medical Facility and Military operation centres here as well.

To put it simply, there was everything here, including several major landmarks, like the Jedi Temple, Monument Plaza and even the Senate Building. It's basically the capital of the galaxy, and its size shows it. It has a war-torn history, like so many of the places in the galaxy, but it's still beautiful.

Coruscant sits quite far away from its small sun, which means there is no set climate. The inconvenience that threatened to chase away certain species was soon rectified through technological means, and the sheer size of the multi-level city allows for it to be heated artificially. There's also a patented weather-control system, because in the past, after the seas and mountains were destroyed, the climate ranged from icy cold, to hot, to tropical storms, to howling winds and pitch-black skies, all within the same day.

There are 5127 levels in the city. The lowest habitable level is Level 5. The highest level of skyscrapers easily clear 6000 metres, which all in turn creates for an impressive skyline - but also dark alleys, shadowy corners and places in the districts that become forgotten about. The ideal place to do shady things.

Not that you would know about shady things.

Of course not.

As well as the districts, the city is separated into sectors, some named, some not. Each sector varies in wealth, depending on what it's nearby or its main attraction.

Some of the wealthier districts have such beautiful buildings, art museums and markets, restaurants and even parks - though they are heavily guarded with large walls and require long waiting lines to get in and feel the fresh - simulated - air.

You practically had your face mushed to the window of the Crest when Din landed the ship in the bay, eager to take in every single sight you could from the area you were in.

“Sweetheart, if you get any closer to that glass, you’re going to dissolve into it.” Din’s chuckling voice came from behind you, the beep and sound of controls signifying he was shutting down the ship.

“I want to see it all. I want to see everything here and taste all the food, drink all the drinks and go in all the shops.” You were breathless with excitement, Grogu and Duru having their own faces smushed to the glass too below you.

Din laughed again, “All the shops? Well, sweetheart, I think that might take a little bit more than the week we’re here for. Just a bit.”

You turned to him, tearing your eyes from the landing bay and you pouted, “Fine. But we must work out what the best places to go are, and work from there.” There was a fierce light of excitement and determination in your eyes.

Din knew he would be a fool to mess with that.

He held up his hands, grinning behind the beskar, “Okay, okay. You can decide everything we do. We have to check into the hotel by nightfall though, so I hope that fits into the first day plan.”

You looked at Din in surprise, “Hotel? We’re staying in a hotel?” Your body had turned from the window to face him, legs twined up beneath you in some impossible pose that was still comfy.

Din had just risen from his chair, and now stopped, twisting to look at you with his hand on his him. He was silent and giving you the Mandalorian equivalent of a ‘You’re kidding me right’ look. “Uh… Where else did you think you would be sleeping, sweetheart?”

You blinked at him, crossing your arms and meeting the stare you know was behind the beskar, “Well… Here.”

Din made a puff of air, like he’d open his mouth and then closed it again, shaking his head slightly – but it was adoring, “Maker, help me.” He chuckled softly, “I told you I would give you whatever you wanted… And that includes an actual bed where we can stretch out fully without punching each other in the face.”

You looked down at your knuckles with a thoughtful pout, “I do usually end up worse off in that situation. I’m much softer than a wall of beskar.”

He laughed again, caressing your hair and then he held out his hand to help you up, ever chivalrous, “Exactly. Now let’s grab the bags and go before the kids melt through my windows.”

~~~

By the Maker, there was just so much to see in Coruscant.

All the different levels, the different species and races, the shops, markets, vehicles… So many smells pervading your nose – the rich spices of different foods, fresh fruits you had never seen before, flower in hues you didn’t even know existed.

You just couldn’t take it all in fast enough, your eyes and head darting around frantically to try and absorb it all.

Twice now, you’d nearly been taken out by a speeder shooting past, too distracted to have any awareness – and yes, Din had scolded you twice for it. After yanking you back by the collar of your new olive green jacket.

Din was a solid wall next to you, sort of shielding you and the kids. He was grumpy and a little reluctant.

Which was kind of amusing, since you had previously polished his armour for him last night – whilst he was still wearing it of course – and his helmet was extra shiny today.

You knew he hated the sheer amount of people here, brushing up against him and you, too many to catalogue and monitor for threats. Added to the fact the pair of you – trio, including Grogu – were still heavily wanted.

Responses to the conversations you had tried to start were mere grunts, mumbles under his breath that you could just about catch snippets of.

Stressed.

He was stressed.

His hand continuously touched the blaster at his side, his sun-warmed beskar arm brushing yours, “We should have left the kids with Ahsoka.” His rough rumbly baritone was tense, almost through gritted teeth.

Said child was in his birikad – baby carrying sling to the non-Mandalorian - his ears swivelling like satellites, and he kept cooing, grabby hands stretching out to reach for sparkly things.

Duru was the same, lounged around Din’s shoulders this time, her tail brushing over his armour and the occasional purr coming from her chest – it was quite comical to watch your shiny Mandalorian stomp around with a loth cat reclined around his neck.

“And then you would have been worried about someone sneaking up on her, and you’d be calling her every hour to check up.” You raised your eyebrows at him, a smile playing about your lips. You couldn’t help it. He was adorable when he was worked up like this.

Din looked at you, quietly for a few moments and he pointed a finger after a few seconds silence, “That is… Entirely untrue.” He huffed, turning to survey the scene again.

Pouting.

He was pouting now.

You couldn’t help the snicker that left your lips as you turned to look in the window of a store selling beautiful fabrics, “You’re pouting, Lori, I can hear it in your voice.”

Public space, so the nickname of course.

Din stood behind you, sideways so he could look out at the passing throng of people, “I am not pouting.”

“Mmhm, that’s why your words sound all pouty and grumpy?” The sing-song tone of your voice had the similar playful effect as an eyeroll.

More grumbling.

You chuckled softly and turned to him, “Hey, look at me…” You reached up a hand to cup his helmet, turning it to look at you.

Din gave in, like butter whenever you touched him – even if it was through a layer of beskar. His hands still clenched and unclenched at his sides, body tense and waiting for a fight or attack like it was inevitable.

You smiled softly, reassuringly, “You don’t need to worry, Lori. Everywhere we go, we will always have the risk of being hunted. This… It’s no different.”

Din made a soft snort, and you could almost hear the eyebrow raise in his words, “Not helping, sweetheart.”

You cringed slightly, realising how that sounded, “What I’m trying to say is… You will never be able to know if someone out there is a threat or not. We could be in the middle of nowhere and be descended upon by a ship full of Stormtroopers.”

You tilted your head as you looked up at him, “I lived most of my life always looking over my shoulder. I missed out on friendships, beautiful places, peace… All because I kept waiting for someone to hold a knife to my throat.”

It was true… There were so many things you had sacrificed to fear, people who could have been lifelong friends, places that you could only ever dream about seeing now.

“That’s no way to live, Lori… We should take pleasure in every single moment that comes our way, Live in it, breathe it in and let it fill our lives with happiness, for however long it might last. The kid deserves to see more of the world… We all do. Without having to keep one eye on danger.”

Din was quiet once more, but a different sort of quiet.

Had you been able to look beneath his helmet, you would see that his face was… Awed. Lips slightly parted, eyes wide and glistening.

“You… How am I so lucky to have you?” His voice was low, huskier than normal, “I don’t deserve you.”

Surprise lit your own face and you looked around at the people then at Din, a colour staining your cheeks, “Lori, I-” Even now, his offhand comments caught you off guard, the casualness of them at odds with the sheer sincerity.

He held up a finger to your lips, “Shh, ka’ra. I didn’t mean it like that, I meant…” He thought for a moment, stumbling with words sometimes as equally as you, “I never, ever thought I would find someone who understood and… accepted me, all of me, as much as you. I still wake up every day and thank the Maker for bringing me to you.” His gloved fingertips slid from your lips to trace up the side of your cheek, over that faint flush colouring your cheekbones, further unsteadying your heart.

It was just like the pair of you to be having a tender moment outside a fabric store in Coruscant, whilst your children watched with growing impatience.

You let out a trembling breath, chest swelling with love, and you leant forward to press a kiss to the top of his visor, and then rest your forehead to Din’s, “I could say the same about you… I guess we must thank the Maker again for giving you my bounty puck… And then making you get attacked by a lizard man.”

You stood in this peaceful silence for a few moments, “You don’t need to worry about keeping everyone safe all the time, Lori. I can keep us safe too now, the kids included.” Your lips quirked up into that smile that you knew Din was simultaneously frustrated by and yet he still adored it. “Besides, I’m magical now, remember.”

Din laughed that beautiful, low laugh that he thought he would never reach again, and he tugged your earlobe lightly and playfully, “Come on, you insufferable thing. Before the kids run off and leave us behind.”

~~~

A few hours later, the ‘sun’ was just starting to set, casting a buttery glow over everything. It turned the edges of the tallest buildings golden and made beautiful patterns on Din’s armour.

The four of you were walking down a street on one of the mid-levels, approaching a large, tall glass building with beautiful twin fountains either side of the entrance.

They were shaped with elegant lines, circles and swoops, that at first would look like mere abstract forms, but at second glance and the right angle, it was clear they were a representation of a solar system of some far away galaxy.

Your arm was looped through Din’s as you walked toward the doors, which glided open at your approach with a near silent swoosh of air.

The lobby was spacious and airy, with floors so shiny you could see the reflection of your boots in them.

Thank the Maker you had put on your best outfit for today.

Grogu cooed in wonder as he beheld everything, satellite ears roving to listen.

Duru’s noise twitched, and you wondered if she could smell the delicious food that was coming from somewhere close by.

Staff and guests of varying species moved across the foyer, disappearing into circular glass pods that rose up and up into the many floors. It was open, warm and bright… And despite the sheer luxury of the place, it still seemed… welcoming.

Din led you to the front desk, where a helpful lady with stunning sunset orange skin and flaming red hair was typing away at a holo-screen.

She looked up when you approached, smiling openly. “Good evening, welcome to Cosmos Heights. How can I help you both?”

Din leant against the counter, his free hand on the top, “We have a reservation booked for five days.” Simple, effective and straight to the point.

Your heart stuttered inside your chest, joy spearing a light inside you.

Five days.

Five whole days of exploring the city and having fun and just… living. Of being a family.

Five days in a bound to be gorgeous room, on a mid-level that provided gorgeous views of the sparkling city beyond the walls.

The lady nodded, turning to her screen again, “Of course, sir. And what name would it be booked under?”

Din surprised you further, by giving her your last name, presenting you as a married couple.

You looked up at Din as she did what she had to, sure your eyes must be a little glassy and wide at what you were finding out.

Married.

He turned to look at you, light bouncing off his visor and for a split second, you could have sworn you saw the faintest flash of chocolate eyes as the lights did something to the black visor. He cocked his head in that slight way that you had grown to realise meant he was smiling, his right hand slipping round to caress your lower back in a move that was both natural and easy. Which also sent a bolt of warmth curling through your spine, slightly untethering you.

The lady rummaged behind her, then turned back round with a small, flat rectangular chip and held it out to you, “All booked in. Your room is number Nine-Seven-Six on the eighteenth floor. Just hold this up to the scanner and say your name and it’ll open for you. There’s a holo-pad in the room to order any room service. We hope you have a great stay with us.”

Din took the key, thanked the lady, and then guided you over to the glass orbs.

You looked at him when you were situated inside one, watching the lobby drop away as you soundlessly glided up to your floor, “Married, huh?”

Din chuckled, shifting a now sleeping Duru to his arm, Grogu asleep in his pouch at your side, “Is that such a bad thought?”

Still looking up at him, the lights of the hotel gliding over his helmet like tracks of starlight, “No, no, it’s… No.” You cleared your throat, your words a little caught as you just gazed up at that covered face, one you adored, no matter what lie beneath, “It’s good.”

He cocked his head, taking a slow step toward you and his demeanour shifted into one more predatory, more controlled. It was like he got bigger somehow, his broad shoulders filling the space of the glass orb, his metal and smoke scent filling the air and tingling on your tongue. “Oh?”

You took a step back, if only to spur him on into crowding you against the corner, “Yes. I like it… Everyone here will call us by my last name now… Mr and Mrs.” The words you spoke were starting to grow a little breathy.

Din walked closer still, stalking his pray and his boots brushed yours, leaning over you and pressing into you just slightly, “You like the idea of me having your last name. Of belonging to you.”

Maker, even his voice had changed too, something close to that seductive rough purr that he’d adopted on the uh, ride over to Coruscant.

It sparked something almost primal in you, snapping your body to attention and focusing on just him.

You did fight for dominance sometimes, wanting to take the lead as much as him and he let you – he loved it – but there were times when you were more than happy to submit and let him lead.

What could you say, the man liked control in his life.

Your teeth sunk into your lower lip as you tilted your head back to look at him and you purred back, “Don’t you already belong to me, Din?” His name was a whispered caress on your tongue in the quiet of the orb.

Much like the caress of your thigh between his legs.

Din made the softest growl through his teeth, his hand lifting to your hip –

Then he leant back, just as a ding resounded to signify you were at your floor.

“Here we are, sweetheart. Time to go.” His voice… It was back to normal. As if nothing had happened.

You narrowed your eyes playfully at him, a little hot under the collar, “tease.” You mumbled the word, brushing past him out of the orb and his rumbly chuckle followed you out into the hall.

He swiftly caught up with you, long legs eating up the small gap you had created as he followed the glittering marble floor round to your room, “We can go anywhere you’d like tomorrow.”

You looped your arm through his, your feet as silent as his, “Even if I drag you round a gallery for three hours?” You inquired as you looked out of one of the floor to ceiling windows you walked past, the city twinkling in the night like its own galaxy.

Din made a playful huff, “Oh, I suppose I can let you have that. Just this once.”

Liar, he would give you all the moons in the sky if you asked for them.

Your mingled laughter followed you down the hall as you finally reached your room.

Din swiped the key card, uttered your surname and with a pleasant tinkling beep, the door swooshed open to your room.

And it was... Beyond anything you could have imagined.

The space was absolutely huge, with a high ceiling and no walls separating the space, save for a small one to corner off a washroom.

The lack of walls was clearly to allow the occupant to see the full expanse of view from the huge ceiling to floor window that spanned the entire width of the room.

It offered an un-marred view of the city – the twisting high rise buildings reaching toward the sky, the parks and attractions down below and even a smidge of sky, displaying tones of burnt orange and magenta as night fell.

That same colour seemed to be echoed within the walls of the room, a burnt gold colour flowing from the walls to the shiny floor.

But the view, as breath-taking as it was, still wasn’t the best thing about the room.

Nor was it the sunken pool just to the left, its heated water looking like a sheet of glass it was so untouched.

No, it was the gargantuan bed.

An actual bed.

With a mattress and silken bed covers that just begged to be touched.

Din looked over at you as he set down your bags – and took Grogu’s sling from your body, “Go on. I won’t judge you.”

Oh, you were already there, kicking off your boots and shedding your jacket.

Your feet made soft thumps on the cool floor as you pelted across the room and dived onto the bed.

A moan left your throat as your body sunk into the plush mattress, the smooth sheets caressing the bare skin of your arms and face. “Oh, by the Maker and all the stars above.”

Din laughed as he tugged off his own boots, setting them neatly by the door and then collecting your own and placing them next to his – then hanging up your jacket. “Good?”

Some kind of blissed out noise answered him, “Words cannot describe this, Din. I may have to leave you just for this bed.” You stretched out your arms and legs, but you still didn’t come close to reaching the edges. “I demand you come and feel this yourself.”

Footsteps padded and then the bed sunk as he plopped down next to you, and a rough groan left his own lips in response. “That’s it. I’m staying here.”

You laughed softly, tilting your head to look over at him and you pulled in one arm and one leg to make room – even though you could have fit another person between you both, “see. We need one of these on the Crest.”

Din looked at you, the covers bunching up underneath his helmet, “Sweetheart, we barely fit in it as it is. How do you propose we fit a bed in there too, huh?”

You raised an eyebrow at him, “If you got rid of some of your miscellaneous crap, we probably would be able to get a bed in.”

He lifted his head slightly, his voice incredulous, “Miscellaneous crap? Oh, yeah? Like you don’t haul things around every time we go somewhere new. I’ve felt how heavy your bag is, sweetheart, I’m surprised you don’t fall over with that on your back.”

He had you there.

You narrowed your eyes at him, fumbling for an answer and then you turned away, “I can’t hear you. The bed is too soft.’ You pulled a plush pillow over your face.

Silence.

And then a hand crept up your thigh…

And promptly attacked your sides, tickling you fiercely.

You gasped, sucking in a mouthful of rich silk and you yanked the pillow from your face, “Din, no!!!!” Laughter bubbled through your chest as you the pair of you engaged in the fiercest tickle war.

The sounds of your squeals and amusement filtered through the room, even more so when Grogu and Duru climbed onto the bed and joined in.

~~~

Darkness fell sometime during your tickle war.

The kids were knocked out in Grogu’s cradle in a cosy corner of the room, Grogu sprawled with his head resting on Duru’s side. He had been enthralled by all the sights and sounds today, tuckered out from the excitement of a new city.

It made you happy, seeing how excited he was by the newness of everything. He deserved this excitement, this happiness rather than fear and worry.

You and Din had ordered room service, dining on luxurious food and drink.

Of course, you had to eat with your back to Din, so he could take off his helmet and… It did sting a little. To be in a new city, beautiful and broad and then in a room with such open space and privacy but… still not be able to see him. It was getting harder lately, harder to resist the temptation to peek from the corner of your eye.

And... Din was getting lazy with hiding too. You noticed as such during dinner, when he sat in such a way that… the windows showed his reflection.

You hadn’t looked, of course, kept your eyes firmly on your plate but… You knew he was there, right there reflected in front of you. He knew it too, it was like… Like he wanted you to see him, he just couldn’t bring himself to ask quite yet.

Something had changed, you felt that much, either with the Force or with your own intuition. But you didn’t want to chase it away by asking… So, you filed it away, finishing your dinner in easy conversation.

And now, you lay together in the huge bed, your head resting on Din’s belly, with his bare fingers stroking your palm where it lay next to your head against his ribs. He traced over the lines, following the swoop and curve of them peacefully, like he had created them himself and knew exactly where they rose and where they fell.

It was blissful, listening to the muffled sounds of the city below, with the haven of the room up here.

Safety, warmth… Things you had now, but not quite like this luxury.

Neither of you had experience luxury like this… And you didn’t even want to know how much it cost.

Maybe he had a contact somewhere? He seemed to have set it up pretty quickly after all.

Unless, of course, this had been planned for… Weeks. Had he had this booked before the kidnapping?

The thought warmed you, the idea that he had planned this retreat long ago. Sat down and thought about the places you would all like to go, the peace of the Sanctuary planet for Grogu, the bustle and life of the city for you… He had seen what you all needed and worked it together to give you all a rest from your admittedly crazy lives.

No-one had ever taken care of you in such ways before, never gone to this much effort.

Come to think of it, no-one had ever bene like Din. It was a fact you knew already and had known for a while, but you’d never sat down and truly thought about that.

In all honesty, you’d never had the time.

But now you did.

And now that’s all you could think about.

Ever since that first moment, Din knew you. He saw you for everything you were and had ever been… And were yet to be.

Yes, it was a little rocky to begin with – You had ‘bickered’ a fair amount but in reflection, that was only because you were so similar.

Both stubborn, both determined and both fiercely loyal to your beliefs.

He never, ever saw you as the monster the world believed you to be, that you believed yourself to be. He saw past that brazen, sharp exterior to the true heart beneath, right down to the soul that you had all but lost.

He hadn’t just saved you… He had given you life. Hope. Happiness. True happiness.

“Credit for your thoughts?”

Din’s silken rumble broke you gently from your reverie, bringing you back wholly to the present.

A tranquil smile spread across your lips, not bothering to organise your words in your head. These words would be from the heart, after all. “Just thinking…. About you, us… How you saw the real me from the very first moment and never, ever shied away. Not with my nightmares and trauma, my power, Haran… Nothing.”

Din stroked down your wrist, the slightly calloused pads of his fingers tickling the sensitive skin, “Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum.” The familiar husk of his voice flowed over the sounds of his language, the flowing words you loved to hear.

“You know that it means I love you... But it directly translates into ‘I know you forever.’ And I do, sweetheart. The moment we met in Sorgan, I saw you. Not just the girl who was on the run, the wolf who would not be caged… But the burning heart of a star beneath that.”

You tilted your head to look sideways and up at his, finding his helmet already tilted toward you, growing blurrier as emotion and love caused tears to rise in your eyes.

Din watched you through the visor, your precious, heart-stopping features that he adored with every inch of his soul, “I promise you that I will fight for that star, for you.” He motioned vaguely to the corner of the room where the kids were, “I will fight everyday to keep this family together and whole. To make sure none of us are ever unhappy or alone again.”

You leant up a bit, still facing him and you swallowed past the lump in your throat, ”Before you… I survived. I woke up, found food if I could, constantly watched my back, and then fell asleep. Day after day, it was the same cycle. I couldn’t stop long enough to admire the world as I once had, I couldn’t even stop to think some days… And I thought that was it. That was my life until they either forgot about me, or I slipped up and they killed me.”

Your eyes were slightly unfocused as you recalled that period, “And as much as that destroyed me, I accepted it. That was simply what the Maker and the Stars had decided for me.”

Din frowned, a slight pout on his lips because he still remembered the hollow look in your eyes back then, the eyes of a wolf defending it last breath even as the world hunted it down. He said nothing though, letting you continue with your story.

“But then I met you, Din and that all changed. You didn’t pull me from the darkness. You threw me the rope and let me climb out myself, so I could learn what it meant to be strong again. You took everything I threw at you, knocked me down when I was being too much but helped me to rise when I needed you.”

You sat up slowly, facing him and looking over that ever-familiar visor. Your voice was choked with tears and emotion, but you needed him to know, “You showed me what it meant to live. To truly live, not survive. You gave me the hope and life I needed… And I will never be able to thank you enough. For giving me a life.”

“Giving you a life…” He murmured your words, sounding thoughtful. “I don’t know that I have, ka’ra.”

Your brows quickly furrowed together in confusion, “What? Din, how can you say that? Of course you ha-”

He pressed a finger to your lips, cocking his head, “Please let me finish…” His voice was thick with an emotion you couldn’t read, and if you were still enough, you felt that his fingers were trembling ever so slightly.

Brows still furrowed, you nodded even if you were a little worried about what had ruffled him.

He visibly swallowed, “Each day, I get to see you. I get to watch the thoughts dance in your eyes. I get to watch you frown when you concentrate or roll your eyes at me even though it drives me crazy.” He rose from the bed, sliding to the end of it and turning to face you.

His hands lifted and he started working at the fastenings of his armour, ‘I can see the love in your eyes when you look at me, the way I make you smile, and you don’t realise… I get to watch the way your face softens when you talk to the kids or the way it lights up like the sun when you see something beautiful.” Each sentence was punctuated by a piece of his armour coming off, carefully placed on the floor.

Your stomach hollowed out, like you knew what was coming.

You couldn’t breathe.

It was almost instinct to shut your eyes, but you didn’t, for you had seen him in the underclothes beneath the amour plenty of times before.

“I was always taught that love was seeing every part of a person. The good, the bad, the dark, the light, and loving them all the same. You have shown me all of you… And yet, you haven’t seen all of me.” He kept going until it was only his helmet left.

And then he lifted his hands to it, grasping the edges.

A gasp shattered your throat, “Din, no...” You shook your head. You couldn’t do this; you couldn’t force him to break his Creed for you.

You turned your head away sharply, squeezing shut your eyes and clasping your hands together on your thighs.

Din’s voice was steady when he spoke, no hesitation, no uncertainty. “I want this. I want to do this. It’s not fair that I get to see you every day, that I get to see the thoughts in your eyes and the way you smile. It’s not fair that I’m privileged enough to see your body, every single glorious inch of you and you get nothing from me.”

You shook your head again, still turned away and your eyes burned, “You do give to me, Din. You give me everything.”

“No, sweetheart. I don’t.” There was no wavering to his voice, still steady and firm. “You have shown me every part of you… Now let me show you me.”

Oh, how you wanted to. For so long now, you had yearned to see his face…

You couldn’t.

This was his life, his rules…

“Please look at me.”

You swallowed, eyes burning and heart pounding.

But still you did not look.

You felt rather than saw Din move, his hand trailing down your arm to your clasped hands, gently unthreading them as he took one gently in his. “Sweetheart.”

He lifted your hand to his face, letting your fingers brush that strong jawline lined with stubble, following the roughness to his cheekbones.

A whimper resounded from your throat, because even though you had felt him before, this was… This was so much different.

This was the ending of one phase, and the start of another.

Din pressed your hand to his cheek more firmly, “Please.” And then his voice broke on that word.

And you were undone.

How could you say no when he said that, pleaded for you to see him?

Summoning a deep breath, you turned your head back toward him, pausing. Giving him time to say no.

When he didn’t, his slightly erratic breathing tickling your skin…

You opened your eyes.

And gazed upon Din Djarin’s face.

Oh.

He was, in a few words… Utterly magnificent.

Stunning.

Captivating.

There weren’t enough words in your vocabulary to describe the ruggedly beautiful face before you.

That strong jaw you had felt previous times before now framed his face, outlined the smooth skin marked only by the little wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.

His eyes.

They were a shadow of molten brown that you had never, ever seen before. Dark and light eddied together, swirling like amber or honey in the night as he watched you.

These were the eyes you had been unknowingly looking into ever since you met, the eyes that had looked upon your soul and branded you as each other’s.

They peered down at you from above his nose, the slightly hooked shape you had only felt brushing your skin previously, now visible and beautiful.

And then his lips… oh, those plush lips that had traced every single inch of your body, that drew light and love from your body.

Those were parted, revealing the faintest slither of straight white teeth. The tickle of warm breath brushed your skin as it slipped from those lips.

The rough scruff of facial hair you sometimes felt decorated his jaw and upper lip, smattered with a few flecks of white.

The same as his hair, the curly locks you had craved to see.

The curly locks that you ran your hands and fingers through whenever you got the chance, werennow revealed to you in shades of brown and black, dusted with those same streaks of white as his facial hair.

They marked him as a man of maturity, a man of wise thinking and emotion.

Plus, he looked utterly adorable with the helmet curls scattered over his forehead and curling over his ears.

His lips parted further, his voice slipping past and slithering up your spine as always now the helmet was off, “Say something…” He whispered it, eyes flicking between yours to try and assess what you were thinking.

Words failed when you first tried to speak, so you swallowed and started again, “You… You’re utterly beautiful.” Awed, stunned. Such truth in your words as you struggled to comprehend the artistry of the man before you.

“Can… Can I touch you?” Your hand was still pressed to his cheek, and you had touched him in intimate moments before but… Not seeing him.

Din nodded slightly, barely a movement as if it would cause you to withdraw your hands and he couldn’t bear that, “Yes… Please...’ He blinked, long eyelashes catching the lamps of the room with golden tones as he waited for you.

You lifted your other hand to his face, and then trailed your fingertips from temple to jaw, tracing the warm skin with careful precision.

He shuddered under your touch, his eyes closing for a moment as he just took it in.

Tried not to fall to pieces.

How long had it been since someone touched him like this, with this much affection whilst gazing at his face?

That thought had you tracing every single one of his features and trying to show him just how much this meant to you. You mapped his face the same way a sculptor might trace a masterpiece, revelling in the curves and hollows, stunned that such a thing could exist.

Tears flowed freely from both of you, and you could taste them when you leant forward and brushed your lips to his.

Something unhooked in Din, an almost choked noise rumbling in his throat and his arms came up, hands deftly and carefully shedding you of your clothes.

You helped him, returning the favour, the whisper of fabric over skin the only sounds in the room, before he curled his arms back round your torso and eased you backward onto the bed.

Anything before this, as mind-shattering as it was… It felt like only a prequel.

This… This would be official. The true connecting of your bond, the threads of your souls.

And so, under the glowing lamps of your room, in the silken bed in the middle of Coruscant… You and Din made love.

For the first time, seeing each other.

And it was… Something of an out of body experience.

To be able to watch his lips part to suck in air, those deep eyes turn black with desire and passion for you.

To see his head tip back in rapture as your lips traced his chest and belly – lower.

You tumbled in the sheets for hours, time losing all meaning as you broke apart and remade each other, connecting and knitting you so your hearts beat as one, your breaths were one and your souls shone as one entity.

It was something you would never, ever get over and it felt heady, greedy even to watch his form move beneath you, over you, to wrap around you and throw you both to the sky.

~~~

Time eventually grew to exist again, for you now lay perched on his bum, knees either side of his waist as he lay with his head on a pillow.

You weren’t sure how you got here, only that you could read in his body that his shoulders and back ached.

And now… here you were.

Your hands pushing and kneading the broad expanse of his back and finding the knots and kinks in his muscles.

And stars above did he have them.

You were surprised he wasn’t crippled with the amount of tension this man carried in his body.

“Honestly Din, how in Maker’s name are you not writhing around in agony?” You shook your head in mock disapproval as you massaged away a particularly stubborn knot just below his left shoulder blade.

He hissed softly, back tensing before it relaxed back into the cushion, “I… I usually hurt all the time. I’m used to it now, I guess.” He shrugged, like it was no big deal that he was consistently in pain.

Silence.

“You’re staring at me with that look again, aren’t you?”

You gently thwacked the back his head with a pillow, “Din! Why haven’t you told me? I have Force powers, you utter…” You struggled for a word to call him. “What’s that phrase? The Mando’a one.”

Din sighed, his familiar long-suffering sigh that meant he was hiding a smile – one you could now see, “Kaysh mirsh solus?”

You nodded quickly, tapping his back in confirmation, “Yes. That one.”

He huffed into the pillow, he peered over the curve of one broad shoulder to pout at you, “My brain cell is not lonely.”

After hearing him utter it so many times, you finally asked and then you had laughed yourself silly when he told you what it meant – ‘he is an idiot’ or your favourite, ‘His brain cell is lonely.”

That was one of the phrases you practiced keenly on in your impromptu Mando’a lessons.

Din hated that you knew it – you used it frequently.

You merely hummed in that nonchalant way of yours, still pressing and smoothing your fingers into his back, “Sure, my love. Whatever you say.”

Din grumbled something unintelligible and then pondered more clearly, “I’ve never really had time to think about it before. I know it hurts me but… I’m just so used to it that I never thought to ask you to help.”

Your knuckles pressed either side of his spine and you dragged them down the curve of his back, earning yourself a groan of delight from your love, “Isn’t it so heavy? Carrying that bucket on your head all day? I don’t know if it would make me feel claustrophobic.”

It was Din’s turn to hum thoughtfully now, his hand absently tracing a pattern on the silk pillowcase, “It is heavy… Really heavy. And there are days when it does feel too much… If it’s hot or noisy.” He was quiet for a few moments, “I’m not sure how to go back to putting it on now… After showing you…”

You paused your ministrations to lean to the side, looking down at him. It sent a spark down your spine every time you laid eyes on any patch of bare skin, “You know I will never, ever tell anyone, don’t you? I won’t even let anyone see it in my head. Ahsoka taught me how to shield my mind.”

A burnt umber eye looked up at you from beneath a fringe of golden lashes, “That’s not what I meant, ka’ra… I love that you know… And I trust you with more than my life. I mean…” He frowned a little as he struggled for the words, “After living with it on for so long, and letting you finally see me… To break that barrier… I don’t know if I can stand putting it back up.”

You nodded slowly in understanding, tilting your head softly as you helped him work through it, “You’d have to when we were in public, of course…”

Din made a noise of agreement, his mind ticking over, “I know… But when we’re alone, in the Crest with just the kids, I could… take it off. I’ve heard of clans of Mandalorian’s that take their helmets off freely, look upon each other and know each other’s names like… like it’s a normal thing.”

You too, had heard of similar clans.

On your races across planets and territories, you learned of different types of the beskar-clad hunters that each had their own ‘rules’.

Your particular Mandalorian seemed to be thinking along the same lines, “We’re a clan of four, right? We aren’t exactly… conventional. A Mandalorian, a Jedi, a Force Sensitive wrinkly baby and a Loth-cat who seems more human than we are.”

A chuckle rose from your chest, “You certainly got that right.”

You were far from normal.

Din continued, a smile playing about his lips and causing his cheek to dimple in the utmost perfect way, “So, if we’re going by that standard… I can make my own rules. I can take my helmet and armour off around my family and in the safety of our home. It’s not breaking any rules if they’re my rules.”

You mirrored his smile, proud of him for this monumental step he was taking, the things he was learning, “If that’s what you feel comfortable with doing, then I will support you every step of the way.”

He made a happy noise, resting his head back normally as he thought about it.

Returning to your massage, you grinned, “Besides, it’s about time I got to shower you with compliments and make you blush for once.”

~~~

You wanted a sunken bath in the Crest.

A huge one.

With heated water like this, and all the luxurious oils.

You didn’t care that it was virtually impossible for that to happen, you just knew you never ever wanted to leave.

You and Din had already been in this pool for… Maybe an hour already.

The water stayed hot, heated by some hidden power reserves beneath the hotel, probably.

There was a ledge running along the shape of it that you could rest on and it was deep enough that you couldn’t touch the bottom without going under.

It was blissful, soothing your bones and wrapping you in silken water that smelled delightful. If it felt good on your body, you couldn’t imagine how good it felt on Din’s.

A little jolt ran through your spine as you remembered that.

His body.

You could see it. See it all.

Even after the tumbles in the sheets earlier and the sex you’d had in this pool twice now – that was an experience you would never ever forget -, you simply couldn’t get over him.

Nor could you stop looking at him.

You kept sneaking glances out the corner of your eye, admiring the lines of his shoulders, the tan skin glistening with water in the soft light of the room.

The few scars on his chest shimmered in the light, and you had already kissed them and traced them with your tongue again.

He was utterly beautiful.

More than beautiful. He was… Well. You couldn’t even describe it. There were no words.

He was everything you had imagined, and yet more… Not even your overactive imagination could have conjured this up.

You knew he was still a little self-conscious, perhaps about the scruff on his jaw, the little crow’s feet by those molten eyes, or his little bulge of tummy.

And again, and again, you assured him that… He needn’t be.

Every single feature made him yours.

Your Din.

Each mark was a symbol for the journeys he had been on, the story of his life and the creation of his incandescent soul.

You cocked your head gently as you thought about this, settled on his lap with his hands resting loosely around your back.

Maker, you wanted to stare at him forever.

Din was looking at you with such unbridled awe and admiration in those simmering pools of molten chocolate.

Never had the colour brown entranced you so.

Before, it was merely the rich colour of earth beneath your feet, the rough bark of a tree against your back, or the sun-baked mud of ramshackle houses in forgotten villages.

But now, tonight… The colour brown was more than just a colour.

It was the hue of salvation and safety, the warmth burning through your shields and thawing your soul. It was the shade of love and adoration, of burning desire and want. It was the promise of a thousand lifetimes together, to never be separated.

The colour brown was now a plethora of shades; amber sunlight dancing through the forest, darkest nights, flecks of gold like the Maker had sprinkled them there.

In a few short hours, it had become everything. One look in those eyes and it was home.

You would never stop getting caught by them, staring into them and losing yourself in their welcoming depths.

Din’s hand lifted from the water, and he caressed your cheek with his fingertips, looking at you like you were the one who had just revealed everything to him, not the other way around. Those eyes were full of emotion and thought, eyebrows ever so slightly furrowed in concentration.

Smaller hands roamed over broad shoulders, tracing old scars and bruises. You tilted your head into his touch, the silky water still lapping hot and soothing against your bodies. “Credit for your thoughts?” The soft murmur of your voice barely disturbed the atmosphere of the bathing room, keeping it close and intimate.

Din looked between your eyes, his cheeks lightly coloured from your previous activities, and the warmth of the water.

He opened his mouth and in a quiet but strong voice, murmured two simple words, “Marry me.”

Time stood still.

Utterly, completely still.

You could feel every beat of your heart in your chest, every ragged breath dragging in and out of your lungs.

Stars above, you thought you could even hear the synapses of your brain firing as they struggled to comprehend the two words Din had uttered, the two words that opened a whole galaxy of emotion. “What…?” The words were a whisper.

Din’s plush lips lifted in that faint smile, thumb stroking your parted lips, “Marry me, mesh’la. Marry me and let me give you the life you deserve.” His eyes were near glowing, a tidal wave of love flowing through them, a promise of the future and everything your entwined lives would bring. “Marry me and let me show you the world.”

You swallowed roughly, tears brimming in your eyes as that promise sparked images in your mind, things you never thought you would get to experience. Far corners of the galaxy, adventures and excitement, the thrill of danger, the elation of waking up next to Din each morning.

Things that used to be just dreams, distant temptation dangling and taunting you because you believed you would never get there.

And yet… Here you are. Being offered all of that, and more. A life of love and respect and happiness.

Din gave you a few moments, knowing your silence was because of this exact reason. He too, never believed he would get here.

His fingers now followed the shell of your ear tenderly, “Ever since I became a Mandalorian… I’ve lived my life one way, by the same set of rules. Never changing, never straying, never challenging. I thought it was saving me... But in time, it began to choke me.”

That honey rasp flowed over the words smoothly, sounded so much richer and more alluring without the modulator.

“When I rescued the kid, I went against that, starting to break it down. It… unhinged me somewhat, so I started to haul it back together. But then…”

He let out a soft sigh, from the heart like he didn’t even realise he was doing it.

“Then I met you… And for the first time in my life, I wanted to break all my rules, there and then. I wouldn’t have done half the things lately without you. I would still be walking around, shut off from the world and… and this.” He ran his hand lightly down your neck and your collarbones to your chest, where he pressed his palm over your heart.

“This is what I live for, sweetheart. This is... the thing that guides me, every day. You’ve shown me a way of living I never thought possible. To take my helmet off for you tonight… To show you me, to remember who I really am… I can never, ever thank you enough.”

Tears began to brim in your eyes, his words swirling around with the steam, like a lullaby and a siren call. These words he was uttering, so smoothly... How long had he been thinking of them? How long had he been wanting to ask you this beautiful, tender question?

Din had tears in his own eyes too, glistening gently and he kept his hand pressed to your heart, “And for you to allow me into your life, to trust me with your past and your true self…” he shook his head lightly, his voice growing husky with emotion, “I swear to you, on my life, that I will spend every single day protecting you. Every single day giving you the space to grow even stronger, even more breath-taking and powerful. I will spend each day being better, learning, growing myself, with you. Wherever you go, whatever you want to do, I swear to stand by your side. Until the very end.” He sucked in a hitched breath, slowly removing his hand and he turned to the side, rummaging in his discarded clothes and then he faced you again, holding up… the most stunning ring ever.

A thin band of rose-gold was lined along the shoulders with tiny, twinkling diamonds. A flowing frame of gold housed more stones, creating a setting for the clearest emerald cut diamond that was nestled into the centre.

As the lamps flickered, you noticed the inside of the band.

Engraved inside, in Mando’a were yours and Din’s initials, along with Grogu and Duru’s.

A beautiful script, portraying a family.

A clan.

You dragged your eyes up from the stunning ring to Din’s open, raw look of love and honest.

He looked between your eyes one final time, “Marry me, cyar'ika.” His whispered the words in a strong voice, a voice that could send you soaring in the stars and also lull you to sleep.

Heart swelling, chest fit to burst, you let out a soft sob, “Yes. I’ll marry you, Din. I would be honoured to marry you.” You gave him a breathless smile, his face blurry through the tears.

A tear spilled down Din’s cheek, a smile so wide it must have ached, and he laughed an equally breathless laugh, blinking a few times as if to convince himself of your answer. He took your left hand gently, sliding the ring onto your finger where it fit perfectly.

Surely, you were going to wake up soon, find yourself back in Sorgan and this was all merely a fever dream.

Din ghosted his lips over yours, “It’s real, sweetheart. All of this is real…” He kissed you softly for a moment, your lips gliding over each other like silk before leaning back to look at your hand.

“Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum.” He murmured the Mandalorian declaration of love against your lips, the words tasting sweet and promising.

You twisted your hands together, linking your fingers and you pressed your forehead to his, “I love you too, Din… And I know you forever.”

Din ran his thumb over the ring again slowly and when he spoke, his voice was softer, different. It was… Not exactly sad, but there was an air of bittersweet happiness in it, “This ring belonged to mother… Before they…” He swallowed, his throat bobbing with the action, “When they hid me, my other slid this from her finger and pressed it into my palm, murmured for me to save it and that I will know when it’s time to live.” He looked up at you, those chocolatey eyes glassy again, “It’s time to live, sweetheart. You have shown me what it means to have a life.”

His words, echoed from your own earlier were entirely fitting and… simply perfect.

His mother’s ring… This was his mother’s ring.

You swallowed the lump in your own throat, looking over his beautiful face, “I… Din, I don’t know what to say...” You glanced down at the ring, then looked back at him, “I swear to you, I will cherish it forever, beyond that even. For you, and for your parents...”

Din wiped the tear away that slipped down your cheek again, “I believe she gave it to me to keep safe until I found someone who I loved and cherished as much as my parents adored each other. Until then… It would be a reminder of her love and her sacrifice.” He smiled slowly, “It’s always been yours.”

There were no words to describe the feelings in your heart, so you pressed your lips to his. A soft, whispering kiss that said everything you both wanted to say, filling your souls with more of that starlight that only came from your twin hearts.

A peaceful silence settled around you for a few moments and then you laughed again, “Engaged… I’m going to be Mrs Djarin.”

His damp curls tickled your skin, the bridge of his nose pressed to yours and just that simple contact, where before your keldabe kiss was against cool armour… Now warm, smooth skin.

It sent shockwaves through you, and you knew you would have to take a moment later to absorb this all, everything that had happened.

Mrs Djarin.

Married… to Din.

Din chuckled again, sliding his hands up to cup your jaw, his fingertips behind your ears like he was cradling the most previous thing that had ever been created, “It has quite the ring to it doesn’t it?”

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#told you soft times would happen #things may not be so peaceful next chapter oop #ring ring ring #i had to give you something soft #rogue #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian x force sensitive! reader #din djarin x force sensitive! reader #din djarin x reader #star wars #the mandalorian #din djarin #pedro pascal #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal x you #din djarin x you #the mandalorian x you

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