If you’d thought that buying makeup was complicated, this is something else. At least there’d only been half a dozen kinds of makeup she’d used. For the next four hours, she runs all around the store, drawing a huge variety of clothes off the store’s racks.
The results, however, are actually quite pleasing.
You’re a lanky girl, too tall and too skinny with collarbones that are too prominent and hips that feel as flat as your chest. You almost never bother to dress up, because you’ve never been able to find clothes that flatter your frame— you’ve never had a frame to flatter, even. Victoria, however, disagrees. And she’s much better at this than you are.
There are, apparently, clothes that can flatter even a skinny girl like yourself. Some of the clothes she picks out are designed to fool people who look at you into thinking your body has more curves than it does, while some of the clothes are designed to hide your lack of curves. Empire-waist dresses are expensive, but she throws a couple on, while most of the other pants she buys are slim-cut trousers and cigarette pants. You’re pleased to discover that your legs are defined enough to pull off a midi skirt, too.
The shirts are simpler affairs. Noting your essentially complete lack of a bust, she doesn’t even bother buying anything without a high neckline. A lot of the shirts she gets have high collars or ruffled tops. There’s a lot of jackets in there, too— jackets, she tells you confidentially, give you the illusion of chunkiness.
Overall, you’re surprised at how effective it is. Looking at yourself in the mirror, you… actually don’t look terrible, especially with your makeup on. You won’t be competing with Victoria in the looks department any time soon, or even Madison, but— if you could look like this all the time, you could be content.
It’s still six o’clock by the time the two of you leave, however. The store clerks are giving the two of you dirty looks as you leave.
Victoria pats you reassuringly on the back as the two of you exit the mall. “See?” she says cheerfully. “Now you look even prettier than normal.”
You hum. “I look alright,” you say dubiously. “Thanks for taking me, Victoria.”
She grins at you. “My pleasure,” she says. You look at her for a moment, then note that she’s looking down at your chest. You let out an exaggerated sigh, calling her attention back up to your face. You can’t hide a pleased smile, though. “I do have to go now, though, it’s getting close to dinner time. Do you want me to drop you off back home?”
You smile at her. “Please?”
Overall, you think it ended up being a pretty good weekend, all in all.
Your date with Amy went well, and you didn’t… hate going with Victoria, even if you would have preferred to have been able to buy that stuff for yourself. Plus, now you have more flattering clothes, even if they’re not the kind of clothes you can wear around Winslow.
Still, as you lean idly back against your pillows, you find yourself planning ahead for the next couple of days. You just have so many tasks you want to do, and so little time to do them in… [Pick two of the following options.]
[] Move your lunch-dates with Madison out to the same courtyard that girl is sitting in. Madison might not well know what you’re planning to do with the girl, but you don’t need her to be aware— you just need the proximity so you can see what effect you’re having on the girl. Multitasking is great like that. This option will only be available for the rest of this week and next week.
— Success chance: 80%
— General results: Initiates recruitment of pre-trigger Aisha. Increases Aisha’s Loyalty by 2. Madison and Taylor will move their lunches to Aisha’s courtyard, preventing them from being as physically affectionate but giving Taylor access to Aisha.
— On a success: Increases Aisha’s Lust by 1.
— On a failure: Taylor will be unable to get a hold of Aisha’s lust in her limited available time.
[] Invite yourself over to Madison's house. You haven’t been neglecting her lately— not even close, you easily spend the most time with her out of all your girls— but you haven’t done anything special with her in a while. You should head over to her house for some nice, relaxing movie-watching and maybe some light fondling. Or some not-so-light fondling. Who knows, really?
— Success chance: Cannot be failed.
— General results: Taylor will head over to Madison’s house on Tuesday afternoon, when Jasmine isn’t there, and spend some time with Madison. Sexual elements may or may not be involved; either way, Taylor will find it relaxing, and will de-stress some more. This will bring Taylor close to being completely relaxed.
[] There’s another girl in your class you’ve got your hooks into; Charlotte. She’s not exactly useful for any of your plans, but she’s cute, and you’ve already made enough progress with her that you should be able to bring her completely under your influence easily enough.
— Success chance: 80%
— General results: Initiates recruitment of Charlotte. Encourages Taylor to explore her mind-control fetish by bringing Charlotte completely under her sway. Charlotte’s Lust is increased by 2 and Loyalty increased by 1, and Taylor will have another girl she feels as comfortable playing with as she does Madison.
— On a success: Recruitment is successful in one session. Charlotte’s Lust is increased by an additional 1.
— On a failure: Fails to recruit Charlotte in one session, requiring Taylor to spend extra actions in future getting Charlotte to the point Charlotte will allow Taylor to play with her.
Canon Omake— Comprehension
Maybe an omake to tide us over?
Note: This is a revised version, with thanks to Thearia and Kinematics for their help. Takes place during chapter 2.9
[Omake]— Comprehension
Good girl
I sucked in a sharp breath at the thought of those words and looked up from the dim glow of my computer screen to stare at the ceiling of the room, without really seeing it, as I slid down in my chair. I was shivering just a little, my whole body tense with anxiety as my fingers worried at the hem of my gray blouse. The blouse Taylor picked out. The shiver edged towards a shake as my thoughts darkened.
It had started earlier today, when I had decided to cancel my ride home after our tutoring session and follow Taylor for a bit instead, to see which other girls she talked to. I wasn't jealous, really not jealous, and not just I'm-in-denial-not-jealous(and shouldn't that have been the first clue?), but someone had taught Taylor about using make up. That really seemed like something I should thank someone for. I had tried just asking her who, but the question died in my throat. No matter how secure I felt, some questions were just too awkward. Asking my girlfriend about her other girlfriends? Just no.
So, following. It was a vaguely uncomfortable experience from the start, too reminiscent of the bad old days when the only thing Taylor was to me was... was a tar...
I squeezed my eyes shut as they watered just a little. The bad old days before we started dating.
The real trouble had come later. Not the feeling of disquiet at sneaking around behind Taylor, but what I had seen while doing it.
— — -
Taylor, it turned out, was following another girl, a pretty looking but somewhat trashily dressed freshman. She wasn't anyone I knew, but I'd seen her around, especially at lunch since we had started eating in the courtyard. Actually, was that why Taylor moved our lunch dates? To be close to this girl?
This didn't seem likely to have been the person I was looking for. More like, this was someone Taylor was just now picking up. Even that was a little bit surprising, to be honest. Taylor had gone completely the opposite direction when picking out clothes for me to wear, so I didn't think Taylor liked the trashy look. Or... does Taylor like fixer-uppers? I looked down at myself, just a bit self-consciously. Not that I mind being fixed for Taylor's sake...
— — -
I choked back a miserable groan at that, sitting up straighter and grasping at the armrests so tightly my fingers ached. I wouldn't would I?
I shook my head to clear away that thought. Focus. Whatever I was going to do, I needed this story straight.
— —
Taylor followed the girl into a fast food place, and I went around to the other side of the building to slip in through a second door. This might not have been who I was looking for, but I still might learn more about Taylor's tastes and how to make her happy. It had been hard to work up the nerve to even do this, so I didn't want it to be a total waste!
That was either the best or worst decision of my life.
Sitting in the back of the lobby, crouched down into a booth as stealthily as I was able, I watched them place orders and head to... opposite sides of the room? I frowned at that. I was sure Taylor was about to make a move on the girl, but she just settled into a booth far away and stared at her, sipping at a coffee. I glanced back and forth between them, the girl eating some fries while bobbing her head along to music from some headphones and Taylor staring a hole into the side of her head. It was a strange scene, and I didn't put it together until Taylor smiled, that wide, face-splitting, wonderful smile, and she gave a short, sharp wave. The girl caught the motion out of the corner of her eye and turned around to look, blinking in surprise as they made eye contact, but returning Taylor's smile with a mischievous-looking grin of her own. She picked up her food, pulled off her headphones, and hurried over to join Taylor, nearly throwing herself into the seat and loudly introducing herself as Aisha.
Within a few minutes they were laughing, tangled up in half a hug while they ate, and I was pretty sure some hands were under clothes. They were being subtle, but I was staring intently.
That had been fast. Taylor was appealing, I well knew. Not... pretty pretty but attractive enough, and beyond appearance, Taylor just had a sort of presence. A warmth and strength that she radiated, which was easy to miss, but impossible to ignore once it did have your attention. I was confident Taylor could have any girl she wanted if she worked at it.
But that had been fast. Too fast. Strangers didn't go from meeting to tousled groping and giggles in a few minutes. Even the meeting itself had been strange. Taylor had caught Aisha's eye and she had started going over to talk to Taylor. No 'hello' no 'come here' not even any words at all. Who would walk up to a stranger who had silently stared them down and then started grinning?
Wait no, that isn't what happened. It struck me in that moment. Taylor smiled first. That grin had appeared while Taylor was still staring at the side of the girls head. Taylor's smiles were rare things. They didn't come easy or often, and I had worked to have enjoyed as many as I had. Yet right in front of my eyes, Taylor had just smiled out of the blue before making any sort of move. Right after that, a girl Taylor had been after threw herself at Taylor without so much as a backward glance, as soon as their eyes had met. It was... was... It was unnatural.
The word was like a bolt of lightning in my head: Unnatural. But wasn't that just how my relationship with Taylor had started? I had caught her staring at me in class that day, and I was suddenly twisting in my chair and pulling at my clothes to present myself to her like it was the most natural thing in the world, feeling a pleased warmth flow through me as her eyes roamed and liked what they saw. It still felt natural, in my memory. Only seeing how strange it looked from the outside let me realize that it probably shouldn't. Even then, though, even with it staring me in the face like that, I might still have waved it off with some excuse, but Taylor had smiled first. Taylor had known what was coming before it happened.
Master.
— —
That was the last thing I remembered clearly. The thought, the realization, broke me, and there was nothing but a blurry sense of running away in between bolting from the restaurant and being in front of my computer, not-really-looking at the PRT page for what to do if you think you've been effected by a master. The only thing it really said was that you call them and report it right away.
And I should, I thought. Masters that can bend people like this are dangerous and terrifying. I was a bit of a cape geek, but even if I hadn't been, Heartbreaker was one of the names that everyone knew. One of the real monsters. If I was in thrall to someone like that, then getting help right now may well be the only hope I had. I still couldn't will my hand to grasp my cell phone and start dialing. When I tried, a flood of tangled emotions and memories washed through me.
Gentle praises whenever I did something for her, and her easy forgiveness whenever it didn't quite work out.
Being wrapped up in warm, tender arms as Taylor hugged away the stress of dealing with mother.
Sharing lunches I had worked to make with my own two hands every day.
Seeing Taylor faintly blushing and smiling hungrily at me for stating the simple truth that the clothes I had bought to wear for her were for her.
Listening to a rushed, awkward, and incredibly passionate declaration that Taylor does consider this a serious relationship.
Sharing a jacket that pressed me so tight against Taylor's bare chest that it felt like I was sinking into her, while she whispered into my ear that I was hers.
Waking up in a tangle of limbs to the sight of a softly smiling face framed by beautiful black curls, and knowing I was exactly where I belonged.
I was left with a warm glow in my chest, an electric tingle between my legs, and an awful twisting in my gut at the idea that those feelings weren't even real. It was like being pulled in a dozen different directions at once. I let out a miserable groan, collapsing forward to rest my head against the cool wood of the table as tears blurred my vision. Turning Taylor in? Never seeing her again? Knowing she was in prison because of me? Or even in the Birdcage because of me?
