"Know a lot of girls like that, do you?" you ask her. She pauses, assessing you, before smirking again.
"No," she replies simply. "Just you." And she grabs a fistful of your hair, causing you to let out a little shriek that turns into a moan as she crashes her lips against yours.
Once you've overcome the initial wave of pleasure, you tug reprovingly at her lower lip with your teeth a few times. She smiles against your mouth, and you can't help but smile back as you run your tongue against her lip in apology. It's hard to stay mad right now.
You're just starting to really get into it when you feel a strong tug at the back of your shirt. Stiffening, you immediately pull back, dropping your arms from where they'd circled around Victoria's waist to hold her arms in place.
She gives you a look of confusion and disappointment as the kiss ends, but she doesn't say anything, just stares at you. You stare back at her, eyes wide— shit, maybe that was too abrupt a gesture.
"Uh, sorry." She drops her hands from your shirt, but doesn't back away from you at all. You're surprised at how much of a relief that is— even when she's not kissing you, you like feeling her warmth around you. "I just wanted to see— but yeah, I should have asked first. Sorry." She unwraps her arms around from you entirely, and begins to float away. You panic a little, wrapping your hands back around her waist, and she stops as soon as she notices that she's dragging you to the edge of the dumpster. After a moment, she floats back in, and you scramble back up to your previous comfortable position.
You're not sure why your reaction was so severe— okay, that's a lie. You know exactly why.
You don't say that, though, instead exhaling slightly in a weird half-sigh. "Sorry," you breathe. "I shouldn't have done that. You can take it off if you want."
She shakes her head slowly, staring at your face. "I'm not sure that's a good idea," she murmurs. "Why did you stop me, Taylor?"
"It's nothing. It was stupid. Forget it." You try to tug her closer to you, but all you succeed in doing is pulling yourself forward again, forcing you to have to scramble back up for a second time.
"No, tell me," she insists. "Or don't, it's your choice. I'm not going to try taking your shirt off when you're obviously uncomfortable with it, though."
This time, you're the one shaking your head. You don't say anything, though, just try to lean up for a kiss. Victoria just backs away a little, leaning her head back to prevent you from reaching her, and you subside after a moment.
"Really?" you grumble. When she doesn't say anything more for a moment, you let out an aggravated sigh. "Look, it's really nothing. I was just being silly." She still doesn't say anything, just gives you that concerned look, and you're forced to screw your brow up in irritation as you let out a frustrated groan. "Argh, okay, fine! I just, I don't like it when people see my chest, okay?"
She floats forward again, but just places one hand on your thigh, making little rubbing motions on it. "Why?" She sounds curious and concerned, but mostly concerned.
Everybody wants to talk about their feelings lately. Argh. It's getting pretty annoying.
"It's n-" You cut yourself off before you can tell her it's nothing again. She obviously knows it's not true, and what's the point in lying when you both know you're doing it? Besides— there's something about Victoria, something about her genuine concern and her insistence on stopping as soon as she notes your discomfort— that makes you want to tell her. "It's silly," you tell her instead. "I'm just, I don't, I don't really have any boobs, and it makes me feel a bit insecure when people see my chest."
"Hm," she says noncomittally. There's silence for a few moments, then she says in a low voice, "You know, I'm not very confident in my body, either."
You look at her. There's a denial on your lips, but something, some part of you, clamps down on it before you can say anything, and you consider it for a moment. Victoria had seemed pretty nervous when she'd taken her shirt off for you last week. You'd pinned it on her being nervous about showing herself off to someone new, but— if she doesn't feel confident in her body, that could explain it too.
But at the same time, Victoria is a gorgeous girl, and you're... you. It's not really fair to compare the two of you.
You don't say that, either.
When you don't say anything for a few moments, she licks her lips and continues. "I know that a lot of people think I'm pretty, but a lot of that isn't me." She taps her chest with her hand. "Aunty Sarah taught me a lot about makeup, and I use it a lot more than people realize. If you use it right, people don't even realize it's there, you know?"
You can't say that you do, but that's just another thing you're not saying at the moment. Instead, you swallow, trying to wet your suddenly dry mouth before you say anything. You reach up, cupping her cheeks. "I don't even look at your face enough to tell when you're wearing makeup," you say inanely.
She bursts out into startled laughter for a moment, subsiding quickly. Her grin is unusually wide as she says, "Not usually what a girl wants to hear, Taylor." Despite that, her grin doesn't fade, and you're pretty sure she isn't faking it. "I'm not looking for your sympathy here, Taylor. I just wanted you to know that I do understand not wanting people to look at you."
You nod, but you're careful not to speak immediately. You're not good with emotions, you're self-aware enough to know that. But even you can recognize that that was a bit more than just Victoria's attempt to empathize with you, and you don't want to ruin that with an inappropriate response.
So you're entirely serious when you lean up and kiss her— just one brief and gentle kiss, no hot-and-heavy make-out session. Then you sit back, taking your hands off her cheeks to clutch awkwardly at the edges of your shirt, and take a deep breath. "... Could you come over to my house on Wednesday?"
She considers you for a moment, looking very cautiously at you. "If you want me to," she says simply.
You nod. "I don't think I can do this here," you admit. Victoria nods, accepting that at face value. "And, um. I don't think Dad needs to know that-" You cut yourself off before you phrase that too badly, and think through what you're saying carefully. "I don't think we need Dad to know that you're Glory Girl," you settle for saying. "So you should, um. You should come as you. And I think that I would like to see you without makeup on." You're fumbling your words, but you don't care.
She studies you for a few long moments, searching your eyes for something. You look back at her, trying to be as open as you can for her. Evidently, it works, because she settles somehow, even though she wasn't moving. "Yeah. Okay. I can do that. Only at your house, though. I'll bring my makeup with me. Maybe I could even teach you how to use it."
"I'd like that." You give her a small smile. And it's true. Maybe with makeup, you could even make yourself feel a bit more feminine. Or maybe not, but— you think that with Victoria there to help you, you might feel confident enough to try.
You don't end up resuming your make-out session, which lives you with mixed feelings. You're a bit disappointed, because seriously, but at the same time, you're left with a strange feeling of giddy anticipation and nervousness rolling in your stomach. She flies you home shortly after your conversation, dropping you a couple of streets over— you make sure to give her directions to your house so that she knows how to get there— and flying off again, claiming something about having to go meet up with Crystal. You're pretty sure she just wanted to get away from the heavy conversation, but you don't complain.
You find it difficult to fall asleep that night. Victoria on Wednesday, Sophia on Friday, and Madison five days a week— that's a lot of things for you to look forward to.
At least she's coming over to yours, so you won't have to spend hours making plans to get wherever you're going. It shouldn't eat up too much of your time.
You find yourself drifting off to sleep as your plans finalize in your head. You're planning to... [Pick three of the following options. Note that visiting Aisha is already locked in.]
[] Head to the clinic on Tuesday, as you'd teased Amy you might. It's hard to predict how each day there will turn out, but you don't mind too much. Even without a plan, you have a lot of fun just teasing her.
— Success chance: Cannot be failed.
— General results: Taylor will head to the clinic on Tuesday, where she will find Amy being stressed out after an unusually busy day at work. Doctor Fitzgerald will turn a blind eye to Amy goofing off in the break room with Taylor, seeing how stressed she is getting. May do something to relieve Amy's stress level, which isn't a tracked stat, but should have visible results in the text.
[] Spend some time mucking around on the computers in class. Not doing anything really relevant to anything you want, just... trying to figure out the intricacies of some computer softwares, and stuff.
— Success chance: 90%.
— General results: Taylor will spend her Computer Studies classes fiddling around with various softwares like Microsoft Office and the like.
— On a success: Success! Taylor figures out some more advanced functions of various softwares, enabling her to do things like use templates to write letters and spreadsheets, and even use the help function to access additional functionality. It's nothing special, but even a small victory is a victory nonetheless! And it helps to bolster Taylor's self-confidence a bit.
— On a failure: Alas, the mysteries of the computer remain opaque to Taylor as distractions pester her away from giving the computer her full attention.
[] After the pictures Madison sent you, you've determined that you want to take her shopping. And so you're going to. Dad won't complain, and Madison is eager to do it, so why not do it as soon as possible?
— Success chance: 60%, 80%.
— General results: Taylor will take Madison shopping for some new lingerie, and Madison will happily purchase several sets of lingerie that Taylor especially likes. Madison may even purchase some nice lingerie for Taylor to wear.
— On an 80% success: Madison has stored away her birthday money, too. She had planned on spending it to buy a new TV, but her interest has waned, and she is still far off, anyway. She will happily give this money to Taylor in order for Taylor to buy her not just lingerie, but also clothing that appeals to Taylor, allowing Taylor to dress Madison up as she pleases— in normal clothes, unfortunately; fetish outfits such as maid costumes will have to wait.
— On a 60% success: Taylor will recall that she was researching Parian's shop some time ago, and that she had vaguely wanted to take Madison there. She won't get as much from Parian's shop as she might elsewhere, but Parian certainly makes good lingerie. The first chance of several to open Parian for recruitment later in the quest.
— On a failure: Alas, Madison has already spent too much of her savings buying chocolates for Taylor's desserts.
[] You've already got your hooks in your trio at school already, but there's another girl in school that you've been letting slip; and she's in several of your classes, too. You're just the right mix of aroused, curious and bored enough to experiment with your power on Charlotte again.
— Success chance: 25% [+25% from previous interactions, +20% from completing Madison's recruitment] 70%
— General results: Charlotte will gain +2 Lust and +2 Loyalty. Taylor will indulge in her mind control fetish some, taking her powers a bit further than she has with anyone else so far.
— On a success: Taylor will manage to keep her use of her power subtle enough not to draw attention to herself while still fixating Charlotte's sexual curiosities on herself.
— On a failure: Raises the general state of alarm by 1. Taylor is still new enough at her power that she doesn't quite understand its subtleties. Unfortunately, this does mean that Charlotte's newfound fixation on Taylor is a bit more overt than Taylor would like.
[] Mr Harding has left you a voicemail, offering you some extra work during Monday night. It's only a few hours, but extra money is extra money, and each time you accept extra shifts, you're showing him your initiative— hopefully leading to even more work in the future.
— Success chance: Cannot be failed.
— General results: Taylor will go work some extra hours at the theatre on Monday evening after tutoring Madison. Provides Taylor with an extra two small expenses on the weekend, for a total of six small expenses, or two large expenses. Will also go further distance in convincing Mr Harding to allow you to work on weekends for larger amounts of money.
2.4
> Success chance: 60%, 80%.
> Rolled: 31. One interval of success.
Spoiler: Winning Votes
[] Head to the clinic on Tuesday, as you'd teased Amy you might. It's hard to predict how each day there will turn out, but you don't mind too much. Even without a plan, you have a lot of fun just teasing her.
[] After the pictures Madison sent you, you've determined that you want to take her shopping. And so you're going to. Dad won't complain, and Madison is eager to do it, so why not do it as soon as possible?
> Roll: 31. Action succeeded, with one interval of success.
[] Mr Harding has left you a voicemail, offering you some extra work during Monday night. It's only a few hours, but extra money is extra money, and each time you accept extra shifts, you're showing him your initiative— hopefully leading to even more work in the future. It’s not quite as cold on Monday morning as you’ve come to expect it to be. It’s not a reasonable temperature by any means, but you’re only half-expecting to lift your blanket and step out onto a puddle of ice today.
You head over to your dresser and get out your clothes for the day, then pull on some of your other clothes to go jogging in. It’s probably going to be colder outside, so you make sure the clothes you choose aren’t too thin. Then you head out, trying to focus on your breathing.
An hour later, you head back to the house and head straight for the bathroom, where you undress and step into the glorious warm spray of water. You stay in there for as long as you reasonably can, and only step out when the water begins to run lukewarm.
After you’re dressed, you head out to the kitchen to a nice surprise; Dad’s sitting at the kitchen table already, with two mugs of coffee sitting in front of him, steam still billowing out of them. He looks up as you approach, giving you a small smile, and pushes one of the cups over to the other side of the table.
