— she woke again. She had seen something, several somethings. She was sure it was all important. Something not quite as big as the universe she'd been trapped in but just as threatening. But she'd fought back. She'd... it was fading quickly now, but she was sure there was both exultation and profound sadness. A huge accomplishment, celebrated by many, and a quiet isolation tainted by something missing.

"Sorry about all that. We're all who we are because of where we come from, and we can't change that. All we can do is try to move forward. I hope you can help, and I'll help you in turn."

Taylor didn't jump or startle at the solidifying image of a woman floating above her, hand still cradling her cheek. After all, she'd known she'd been there since she awoke, and another person was much less of a shock that the other things she'd already seen. The memories were fading quickly, but the emotions she'd felt lingered.

She was there and not there. Gone if she tried to focus and there when she relaxed. The stars and nebulas still lit the sky behind her, but they were darkening and shrinking. It reminded her of the trapped feeling, and her heart raced once more. She idly noted that she could move freely again after hugging herself tightly.

The thumb of the hand on her face was drawn across her cheek; collecting moisture she didn't know was there as another hand held one of hers and squeezed tightly. They were nearly scalding to the touch, insisting on their existence in contention with cold reality. The figure floating above now seemed to contain all that had been spread out before her, and it glowed and pulsed as if the body was its source all along.

"Shush, hon. It's okay. Everything's okay, now," the figure spoke softly. The sound was distant and unclear, something like radio static hissing between and over syllables, but Taylor still understood. Had she been making a sound? She wasn't sure.

Tendrils, not unlike those that had first reached down to her, extruded and then solidified into dark curls of hair framing a strange but familiar face. The cosmic light dimmed and pale skin asserted itself over the human outline. A warm, wide smile greeted her.

She almost said it out loud, almost voiced the first, desperate thought that came to her. But the differences were there. Too young, not much older than herself. The eyes the wrong color and the jaw was more angular. The body's proportions, pale and bare to her eyes, were off as well. It didn't fit her first thought, and she wasn't sure if her second was more or less crazy. The differences disappointed her somehow, as if she'd already accepted them.

Now she could hear her own sobs, awareness of some effect like her ears popping allowing the missing sounds of the world back in where she hadn't noticed their absence before. At the same time, a weight settled on top of her and the comforting arms embraced her fiercely. She tensed, waiting for the panic of claustrophobia to strike again, but it never came.

"It's fine. I'm here. It's okay, Taylor," the voice continued. The static was gone but now she couldn't tell if it was her own voice, the voice of the figure, or the thoughts in her head. "I'll never leave you again."

The hands holding her roamed for a while, painting existence and reality over her. She warmed and relaxed. Her breathing steadied and the tears trailed off. She relaxed into the woman's hands, pushing herself into them when she could and uncoiling clenched muscles when they passed. The blanket between them was moved and the heat increased. Both hands now held her head and she locked eyes with the woman. They shined brightly, twin novas blowing clouds of blues and oranges forever outward.

Her eyes closed instinctually when their lips met and her surprise was smothered in intrigue. The memories of what she'd seen in the sky were all gone but for the knowledge of their absence. Rational thought was returning now that she was safe and reunited with... she didn't know. She thought that she should, that the obscene familiarity of the other could not be discarded. It was there, in the things she had forgotten, and the harder she focused the easier the thoughts evaded her.

The kiss, though! Her legs stretched out and back arched. She brought her own hands up to hold those of her savior, and fingers interlaced. The kiss deepened and she felt a contentedness she'd never known. It continued until she needed to remember to breathe through her nose, and continued further. The fingers of their linked hands played with one another while their bodies tried fruitlessly to merge into a single being.

It ended suddenly when the woman pulled back. She leaned on Taylor's clasped hands that were now pinned beside her head. There were tears in her eyes, but she was every bit the mirror to Taylor's own elated satisfaction.

"Wha — who are you?" Taylor asked quietly.

"You know already, don't you? Though that isn't quite right, it's close enough." She released her hands and sat back, weight fully settling on the pajama'd waist below her. It wasn't uncomfortable.

"I think, but," her brow scrunched together and she turned her head to the side. Eventually she turned back, having come to a decision. "What do I call you?"

"Well, I'm quite fond of Taylor, but that's probably not a good idea. How about Queen?"

Taylor choked a snort, but her amusement fell away when she saw `Queen' looking quite serious and mildly offended. "I don't think I can call you that. I... don't like the implications. I, we, if we're going to make this work, I think we need to be equals."

"Oh, Taylor. This is why I love you. But I assure you I'm quite deserving of the name!" She paused as a protest was formed, then talked over it. "However, I get it."

She kissed her again, diving in nearly as deep as before but cutting it so frustratingly short. Her mouth moved to Taylor's ear and the words made her tremble.

"Call me Addie."

Taylor turned and gave Addie a peck on the side of her mouth. "It's a beautiful name, Addie. What is it short for?"

The deep kiss was back with quivering lips. Little shivers and shudders followed the path of the fingers now under her pajama top. She gasped and squirmed into Addie while a naked, pearly thigh was between her legs moving just so.

Taylor wanted desperately to return the attentions, to explore the body on top of her. She found these attempts shrugged off at first. She'd relent for a while and bask in the pressure that was building, and then try again. The rebukes were harsher each time. A nibble on her lower lip became a bite. A hand brushed aside was instead slapped away. The kicker was when her hair was pulled. Her eyes shot open and her toes curled. It felt like every nerve in her body was attached to the tuft of hair in Addie's palm, and tugging on it lit her on fire.

She shrunk under the other's reproachful gaze. She'd said she wanted to be equals. Her savior had agreed, hadn't she? This was supposed to make things right, supposed to give her back control of her life.

But this was also a choice, wasn't it? And she felt so safe, so complete in Addie's arms...

The grip on her hair loosened, and it was missed. Movement resumed elsewhere, though, and it almost made up for it.

She still made those token resistances, the game apparent to both. She especially enjoyed the tweaks and pinches to her nipples, but Addie had already moved on.

Her hands were free now, so she took to experimenting herself, top pulled up to her neck. It was the anticipation, she found, more than the actual pain. So she'd rub circles around the nipple, pinch the flesh outside the areola lightly with a rhythm. Only sometimes did she `slip' and capture the nub itself. When she did, she'd twist, or use even more pressure, or immediately pull away.

A chuckle pulled her attention back to Addie who had been working to remove her bottom. Her hands shot away and eyes darted to the side, cheeks flushed.

"It's okay. I'm happy for you, hon. Lift for me?"

She complied with a smile, and her pajama pants were discarded along with her underwear. She took the opportunity to shrug out of her top as well. Addie leaned down and began kissing around her stomach while massaging her hips and thighs. Embarrassment swelled each time the bits of fat around her lower body were gripped and smoothed, but the occasional moan slipped past her teeth anyway.

Taylor bucked and nearly screamed when Addie sharply bit a spot at the top of her pelvis. Addie rode this out, still biting and gripping the kicking legs. The full-body tingle and heat was diminishing, but Addie caught and held it level with more kisses down her side. The path ended with a peck on the top of her knee while she began to knead and rub Taylor's calf. The massage switched from leg to leg, and sometimes wandered to the back and side of the knee as well as the quads above.

Taylor had ceased all her own movement except for small twitches and gripping the sheets. Her entire consciousness lived beneath Addie's fingers, which pulled and pushed her through the medium of flesh. A bite or pinch was a pirouette in the dance that had her floating away, only to suffuse back through her own body in time for it to happen again.

Her gut leapt at the sensation of warm breath over her crotch. The sweet anticipation was too much and she tried to pull away in an irrational panic. Too late. The mouth closed around a spot that had so far been ignored.

Thunder crashed between her ears and her vision swam. In contrast to the earlier orgasm, Taylor went completely limp and insensate.

She thought again of the cosmos she'd glimpsed. Things were missing, important things, but that first panorama she'd seen was still there in perfect resolution when she called on it. It pulled her in and she drifted, guided by some unseen, massive gravity.

Addie was speaking to her, but she couldn't understand. In her mind, she had settled into a low orbit about an alien world made of mirrored crystal. Or maybe it was just that gigantic, that the surface seemed within reach of an outstretched hand. But there were rings and countless moons in the distance, all making the proportions and sizes seem impossible. The planet watched her, she knew. It held her there, examined her, greedily absorbed her image in its reflective surface.

Addie's fingers slipped inside of her while she sucked and licked Taylor's breasts. She knew this was happening, could feel the electricity arcing between her upper and lower body, but she remained in that island in space.

A new kind of pressure was forming. Her head was being pulled one way while her feet another. It would pull as far as she could take it, then relent only to try again. The contractions warmed her core, and fire snaked outward through her being. The moons spun around the blue orb faster and faster; the rings glowed white.

Addie continued, varying the number of fingers she used, where she used them. Both hands and mouth were given to Taylor's pleasure, all focusing on that single point between her legs, then teeth and tongue staying while the hands traveled upwards to ply and pull. The hands soon came back, though, and they scraped coos of approval from Taylor's supine body.

At some unseen signal, Addie brought herself back up to Taylor's head, leaving only a single hand to continue its work. Three fingers were steadily picking up speed while the thumb wove circles around the crown.

She kissed Taylor, transitioning from a nibble on her lower lip to a fuller, deeper connection as she cautiously took hold of her beautiful curls.

In sequence, she pulled hard on the hair she held and curled the fingers of her other hand. Finally, she pushed firmly down on Taylor's clitoris, holding it between her thumb and those curled fingers.

The pull on Taylor was too much and she tore open, though even as the break seemed to originate in her lower body the feeling of leaking out through her head was intense. All the while, the serene planet below watched. She was leaving herself, spreading out through the space around her. The familiar tug was still present, though, and she was certain she'd be joining those rings she'd seen. She smiled.

* * *

Daylight woke her, which was something new. She was usually well awake and out of bed by the time the sun's journey would have put it in a position to do so. Milky arms held her from behind, accompanied by a light snore. Taylor spun around madly and threw her arms around Addie's sleeping head.

"You're real! Oh, thank god, you're real." Addie dealt with the awakening as well as could be expected, sputtering and jumping before getting her bearings. She stroked Taylor's head for a while then pulled her into her breast, chin on her head as Taylor sniffled and whimpered. They lay there for a long while before they were interrupted.

Through the haze of recent sleep and her hysteria, Taylor heard the fall of feet on stairs and shortly after a knock on her door. "Taylor," her dad's voice was raised with intent to wake, "you picked a hell of a time to start sleeping in. You up?"

It took her a moment to collect herself and hope she just sounded tired. "Yeah, I'm up. Just a slow start."

"Okay, I have to get going. You going to make it to the bus on time?"

"Yeah, no problem," she said without looking at the clock.

"Okay, see you later."

"You're not going to school today," Addie ordered once the front door had closed.

"Why?"

"Trust me? Please?"

"Okay."

Clean Up

(Автор: DoggySoup)

It's been three weeks, and it was Emma's shift, watching over Taylor.

Three weeks since they'd moved her to a hiding place Sophia used in one of the many abandoned buildings in the Docks, three weeks of taking turns bathing and feeding her as her own nerves were too weak to allow herself to move.

Three weeks of gradual deterioration. Taylor could barely move her muscles at all. It was obvious that something got into her, and they knew it was getting worse. The issue was just how bad it had gotten, and the lack of options. They took her out to avoid an accidental murder, but they've been keeping her to avoid arrest.

Still, they at least didn't want to let her die. There was a limit.

Emma walked into the basement and stopped at the ajar door, holding the collection of food and sanitary supplies in the rucksack. The door was ajar which did confuse her as Madison was supposed to lock it, but it didn't matter because Taylor couldn't move it anyway. At first, it was simple enough to put something behind the door as she barely had any strength in the first place. Now, she couldn't even crawl.

She shook away a thought and peered through the door, only to jump back at the sight.