“Hey River?” I started leaning in their door. “Do you think the other two will object to me taking over the shoe cubbies in the coat closet?”
They weren’t around to ask directly since Jake had student union stuff and Mike was already out on a dinner date. “I don’t really have anywhere to put the shoes I got in my room.”
“I don’t see why they would, they’ve been empty for a while.” They answered with a shrug. “None of us have any great variety of shoes anyway.
“Cool.” I said starting to leave but stopping when they had an uncertain look. “What’s up?”
“Would you mind if I wanted to see what you got last night?” They asked sheepishly.
“Of course not.” I said with a frown. “Why would I?”
“I just don’t really know what your boundaries on things are anymore, and I don’t want to press on you.”
I blinked, then gave them a guilty grin. “That would need me to know too.”
My admission prompted a laugh from them. “Fair enough.”
“Actually, did you want to help with picking what I was going to wear tomorrow?” I said while the thought crossed my mind
“Sure.” They agreed with a smile while getting up from their desk.
“It’s a bit less than it looks, the shoeboxes take up a lot of volume,” I said a bit defensively as the row of bags in front of my dresser became visible. “I may have spent a bit more than was sensible, but I guess I do have a job now.”
“I’m not worried about that, if nothing else your food expenses are covered by the lot in the garage.” River said with a wry chuckle. “It looks like a good haul!”
“Ah, true.” I agreed before starting to unpack the bags onto my bed.
“I see some shorter skirts.” They commented a short time later while glancing up from the open sneaker box in their hand.
“Anna likes them, and uh they are quite nice.” I admitted steaming a touch, and they gave me a warm smile back.
“Nothing wrong with that.” They said while placing the box back down, then looked across the dresses and tops. “You have stuck to your colour scheme I see.”
“Yeah, honestly I quite like purples and blues now.” I confirmed. “If nothing else, I already have such stark coloring that bringing others in looked really weird on me when we tried it. Green makes me look like I am trying to be unit zero one or something.”
“I thought you wanted to cosplay?” They gently teased.
“Ah but you see I want to intentionally do so!” I acknowledged with a grin, then I put a mock frown on. “Also, that’s basically the joker scheme too so I would give it a fifty-fifty chance of being accused of being jokerfied.”
This brought out some more chuckles, while I stopped and surveyed what I had out.
I nodded once I was sure it was everything then turned back to River.
“Want to see my initial plan for tomorrow?” To which they nodded with a smile, and I started heading to my closet while explaining the date. “We decided to head out to this Mediterranean place near her that was cool with me bringing my own food.”
“I don’t exactly know what you dress like for that, but I was thinking that longish navy skirt over there.” I said pointing vaguely to its location on the bed while rifling through my cabinet with my other hand. “And this white… camisole? Is that what they are called?”
“Anyway, I thought it would be nice and I haven’t worn it yet.” I continued while pulling it out. “I wanted to try the grey stockings with it too, but they might not be that visible with the length of the skirt and I don’t know if that’s a big deal.”
“I feel like a jacket or something would go with that, but I don’t have one since don’t feel great, so I was going to combine it with this.” I pulled out a short-sleeved button-up shirt that was stiff enough to stay out of my shoulders and was cut off at about the height of my sternum while continuing to ramble. “And just have it open, Then those new black boots with the short heels.
“What do you think?” I finished turning back to them.
They laughed and pulled me into a partial hug while trying to avoid knocking the clothes in my hands. “It seems like you’ve put a ton of thought into this already, I’m sure it will be great.” They said fondly. “You didn’t even need me for this.”
“Really? It sounds ok?” I asked uncertain but smiling anyway. “Actually, I can just put it on and you can see.”
I pushed my door shut and laid the clothes I had in my arms on my chair before starting to pull my shirt off.
“Sam?” River asked uncertainly. “I’m still here you know.”
“Yeah?” I asked not stopping. “I changed with you in the room all the time in first year?”
“But you’ve had all this since then.” They said quietly while keeping their eyes on my face.
“Sure, but you’ve never been weird about it.” I said with a shrug and started to pull my leggings off. “I’ve changed form, but you’re still River and I’m still Sam, so yeah I’m cool with it.”
“Oh Sam.” they said tears in their eyes and pulling me into a hug.
“Hey, I’m mostly naked here, give me a sec.” I said chuckling and patting their back, not trying to push them away despite my words.
After a few moments they released me.
“Sorry.” they said looking away.
“No worries.” I said while pulling the camisole over my head, then pausing and looking at it. “I don’t really need to wear anything under this actually, it’s got enough form and I don’t have nipples.”
I got a mischievous grin even if River couldn’t see it. “I could totally get Anna’s goat with that.”
“I thought you said you were going to a nice restaurant?” River said turning back to me with an unsteady smile, getting a laugh from me.
“Good point! Now pass me that skirt please.”
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“There’s still something deeply weird about seeing literal wood and feeling hungry.” I thought aloud while lying on our crappy couch after a quiet but companionable dinner with just the two of us.
“Bit distracting?” River asked looking up from their novel at the episode of a wooden ship being restored I had streaming to the TV.
“Yeah, it’s also super weird to be looking at tar and wondering what it tastes like.” I continued. “Like it doesn’t stop me wanting to watch this, but it makes me think of it more like a cooking show where they make an improbably large cake or something.”
They laughed before returning to their book, for my part I went back to focusing on the video while metaphorically drooling.
It was nice having a bit of quiet time with how busy my life was these days, and I felt myself sort of dozing off. Not fully, I was awake enough to see and hear, but I felt my burners turn down and brain drop to a slower speed. Most of the sounds besides those of the video lost their distinction as I wasn’t devoting any processing power to them. Even the area of my vision outside the borders of the TV screen just sort of turned to vague mush that didn’t have meaning, sort of like I was getting tired but without any negative association to it.
Honestly, it was nice not to have anything I needed to do for a few hours so I could just relax. I know Friday is normally supposed to be a time for parties but with the other two out and Leah away for the weekend there wasn’t really going to be anything going on tonight as far as I was aware. Anna was busy with a paper for her history course, and while I had offered to train or something with Molly she had her own plans for the evening.
An hour or two later I was roused out of my fugue state by the door opening, with an audible woosh my burners came up to normal and I yawned to compensate for the increased air demand.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Glancing over at them showed River to have a complex expression while looking towards the hallway, curious what was up, I paused the video before pulling myself up the back of the couch to see who was there.
“Hey you two!” A cheerful Mike waved while coming into view past the dividing wall, he had a dress shirt and slacks on, so I guess he had been on a fancy dinner date.
There was still the sound of shoes being removed and the front door being closed, but after a short delay another person, no two people came into view. The first was a brown-haired woman with a bright red and not very substantial dress followed by a very tall dark-skinned man dressed similarly to Mike other than the addition of a jacket. They paused upon seeing me, a two-staged affair as each got a chance to look past the dividing wall in turn, the confusion on their faces upon first encountering me something I was almost getting used to.
Assuming they were Rebecca and David, it looks like I was right when I guessed Mike was dating both of them, together too.
“Hey.” I said with a raised hand, trying to guess what reaction I would get. “How’s it going?”
“Uh hi.” The woman said with confusion in her voice.
“Hello, I’m David.” The guy said with an offered hand, apparently falling back to an automatic reaction. “It’s gone well thank you.”
“Sam.” I said while my hand vanished into his, he had a surprisingly gentle handshake but maybe he thought I was delicate or something.
The woman cleared her throat quietly and then started again. “Sorry. I’m Rebecca.” She said with an awkward smile. “We had a wonderful dinner.”
Bingo, two for two on my guess.
Mike’s face was revolving through a series of expressions while this went on mostly between concern and relief, which was kinda funny but I wasn’t going to say anything.
“That’s good to hear,” I said with a smile, so far they had pretty reasonable reactions. “Let us know if you need anything.”
“We will thank you.” David said with a smile of his own, which seemed to be genuine too.
“Omigod your voice.” Rebecca said as her demeanor changed entirely, her initial shock at my appearance apparently dissipating enough for her to notice other stuff. David was greeting River with equal politeness, as Rebecca was getting excited. “That’s awesome, how does it work?”
Well, she seems positive about me now.
“I couldn’t explain exactly but it’s kind of like reed instruments, I have these little pieces of material that can vibrate driven off steam that feed into chambers that can change shape with valves and stuff.” I tried to give a succinct explanation of what I could feel and remember from the scans.
“Oh wow. I wou-” She said while starting into another question before Mike laid a hand on her shoulder and she stopped, apparently Mike had warned her or something. “Sorry.”
“No worries,” I said with a dismissive wave. “Don’t let me distract you from your evening.”
“Uh yeah.” She with the start of a blush as she nodded a little jerkily.
David leaned down to whisper in her ear, and the blush deepened while she started taking her heels off.
“It’s been nice to meet you both.” David said as Mike started up the stairs behind him, while Rebecca swiftly followed too focused on Mike’s butt to say anything, a moment later David followed behind them.
Once they had been upstairs for a few minutes, I dropped back onto the couch and looked at River.
“Well seems like my guess was right.” I declared smugly.
River stared at me with creased eyebrows for a few moments, then started giggling.
“You were.” They admitted.
“Interesting thing to note too, he must have been with them for multiple weeks at this point” I pointed out. “Maybe his days of rampant hedonism are over, and he has steady relationships from now on?”
“He could still just add rotating guests.” River countered with a broadening grin.
I paused considering. “I concede the point.”
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There is something uniquely annoying about hearing my phone ding with a message but having to wait to get to temperature before I could see it.
8:10 AM - Mom: Are you awake for a call?
8:22 AM - Me: Yes I was, couldn’t answer yet sorry.
The phone started to ring, and I immediately answered so as to not wake anyone else.
“Hi Mom.” I said quietly.
“Hi Sam! Are you doing ok?”
“Yeah, it’s going pretty well actually,” I answered while getting a cleaning rag out of the box of them.
“That’s good, I know you have some midterms coming up, but we could come by to visit today.”
I stopped for a second, while I had done a few random calls with them I honestly had been too busy to even think about them visiting.
“Uh, I’m already booked for today actually.” I hesitated for a second before elaborating. “I have a date starting at lunch then I have assignments to work on in the evening.”
There was a pause that lasted a few moments too long, presumably considering the idea I had a date. “How about tomorrow?”
“I kinda scheduled doing some stuff with a friend already.” Training for work technically but Molly is a friend, and it was fun soooo not a lie. “Uh then we were going to prep for the eng midterm that night.”
“Would next Saturday work? I don’t have anything scheduled yet.” I offered while trapping the phone against my shoulder so I could begin cleaning my joints.
“’Yet’ is it?” Mom said with a laugh. “Sure dear, see you next week. Let us know how the tests go.”
“Yeah, I will
“Bye, Sam.”
“Bye!”
She hung up after a second and I paused cleaning to toss the phone onto the bed beside me.
Well, that could have gone worse.
I am not sure if I should have talked about Anna more, it’s not like a secret or anything. I just kinda would prefer to talk in person without having to be quiet and not wake anyone.
Yeah, that’s totally the reason.
Nothing to do with how after years of never seeing anyone I started to after becoming a changee, no awkward topics there at all.
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Anna wasn’t dressed that much differently from our last date, but her black jeans fit well, the t-shirt was less loose and worn, and the denim jacket was new. We didn’t freeze up at the door either, but I wasn’t able to resist pulling her into a hug and gushing about how pretty she was.
The walk over wasn’t particularly fancy and it didn’t go through any parks or anything but it was fun to chat about random stuff, I did notice that Anna would sometimes trail off in the conversations. A quick glance seemed to confirm that this usually seemed to be because she was looking at me, which felt really great.
The restaurant was one of those ones relatively understated from the outside, the building it was in was clearly well maintained and the restaurant’s name on the awning was crisp and new-looking. The inside was similarly well maintained with enough work put into it to look nice without making either of us feel underdressed, the clientele seemed to be a mix of old people and young couples with basically nothing in between.
“Hi, I made a booking last night under Woodward.” I said when a server came up to greet us. “I am afraid I have awkward dietary requirements.”
“Oh yeah! I took your call so I already know, don’t worry about it.” She said with a smile. “It’s more common than you might think that we have people come in with specific needs.”
“I have a table ready for you if you will follow me…”
Out of curiosity I ordered some tea while Anna was considering the menu, I was not sure if I could actually consume it but I wanted to have gotten something from them at least.
The tea didn’t particularly smell of anything, maybe a hint of something I would have said was herbal before. The taste was faint but was, well tea like, maybe not the right tea but it was fine nonetheless. I didn’t feel anything particularly wrong with drinking it, and Lilly didn’t object either so I presumed whatever filtered my feed water could handle it fine. I can’t say it’s something I really need to repeat but it was better then having nothing in front of me.
Honestly I don’t know what people are actually supposed to talk about on dates but we ended up on the topic of we had been reading or watching while we waited for the meal. Turns out I might actually consume more series then her, while she did enjoy reading she often wanted to spend the time working on cosplay instead since there was always more that could be done. The topic drifted across specific genres for a bit then back into cosplay when she talked about stuff she had tried and failed to replicate it then ended up on the topic of clothing in general.
“Forgive me for asking, but you don’t seem to be proactive about picking out clothes for yourself.” I cautiously ventured, before leaving a out. “Not that I mind, I like the way you dress.”
She paused for a moment, then got a sheepish look.
“Honestly I don’t know what I want to wear, it’s easy for me to want to replicate a character because then I just make or buy what they wear.” She shrugged. “For myself I haven’t ever really had a opinion, I tried out some stuff in high-school but it never quite worked right.”
“I went through a long goth phase, but uh looking back I was trying way too hard and I’m pretty sure I looked silly.” She said sheepishly. "I don't even think it was because anyone else was doing it either, I just thought it would suit me or something."
“So like all black, did you have the belts, straps and everything?” I asked curiously while trying to imagine her like that.
“Whole thing yeah, fishnet shirt under black cropped tees. Choker, black hair, skirt with a buckle like this.” She said while holding her hands apart to indicate scale, she was smiling though so I don’t think the subject was too hard on her. “The loooong boots too!”
I closed my eyes a second then looked back at her, before leaning forward.
“Not gonna lie.” I said quietly with a awkward smile. “That sounds hot as hell on you.”
She stopped mouth slightly open and stared at me.
“No way, you’re just trying to be nice!” She argued.
I was somewhat distracted by my imagination though.
“Mmmm, just a little strategic skin, you know just a slightly too short shirt but with fishnet between it and some black shorts so there’s just a hint.” I said wistfully a hand on my cheek. “I like your bright hair with it though, oh it would be wonderful.”
“You’re serious.” She gasped.
“Oh yes…” I trailed off then stopped and got a sheepish look. “Sorry, I uh probably shouldn’t do that.”
Her response was to lean forward, grab my head and kiss me. Something I was hardly going to resist.
“I’m afraid what I have won’t fit anymore.” She said a little huskily once she pulled her head back from mine.
“We can fix that.” I said with a smile, then I paused. “Maybe give my wallet a little bit to recover.”
She giggled and released me as the server arrived with her food and a spare plate for me to put the wood chips I had brought on.
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While the skirt of my costume wasn’t done yet, I started on the blouse so that we could do the final fitting with both of them together. It felt a little like going a step back since I had to go through all the motions of cutting patterns and cloth again, but it was still fun so I didn’t mind much..
I was making better time then with the skirt having done some of this before and the lessor quantity of material involved. I even got a little into sewing in the time we had, if not that much.
Although I managed to distract both of us for a while by draping my stockinged legs across hers from my stool next to her as she worked on the design work for her shoulder gun prop. My skirt sliding just high enough to prompt a heavy swallow, and repeated glances.Teasing her is adorable especially as she was still trying to work through it.
I will admit Molly’s warning about her being unable to resist at some point was in my mind, but I wasn’t sure if it was a goal or a limit right now.
After my initial amusement passed, I spent a while where I tried not to be too much of a tease so I could watch her work while being with her.
It was nice.
Eventually it got late enough that I needed to go so I could get at least some schoolwork done before it started piling up. So after few wonderful moments of feeling her face on mine at the door I headed home.