A Simple Life: Chapter 15 (Patreon)

My class, race, and stats determined we move on to the finer details.  As we nibble a bit at our suppers Winona guides me through choosing my skills and spells.  I just loved the way she shone with the energy of a true geek.  In sharing her hobby I could glimpse that same joy, that same passion, as when I got that perfect shot of the bluebird.  And it was a wonderful thing to witness.  Time and again I would go against her experienced recommendations and each time she would support my decision.

“Are you sure about this Sprout?”  She says as she looks over my finished list of spells.  “You have literally zero offense here.”

“She’s not a warrior.”  I say.  “She’s a protector, a problem solver, and a pacifist.”

“You sure you don’t want to look at Bard or Priest?”

“Mmm”  I shake my head.  “She’s a mage like her Grandma.”

“Well she sounds lovely.”  Winona says.  “She’ll just have to get…creative sometimes.  We’ll make it work Avery.”

A flash of lightning brightens the window and just a moment later a boom of thunder rattles the building.  The storm was right on top of us now and neither of us had given it any thought.  If anything the violent weather outside only enhanced our isolated location to insulate our private get together from any potential interruption.  Out here it was just her and I tucked away in this cozy little suite.

“Have you thought about your familiar?”

“Yeah.”  I say.  “It says I can have a bird.”

“Yep.”

“Well, I thought I might choose…a crow.”

Her left brow rises.  “Cheeky.”

I giggle.  “Crows are clever and industrious and…”

“And you’re buttering up the GM.”  She says.  “I respect the hustle.”

“It’s not that!”  I plead my innocence, though the truth was she was onto me.

“So that’s most of the crunchy stuff.”  She says.  “What about a description.  What’s she look like?”

“She’s pretty.”

Winona chuckles.  “Yeah, I know that much.  Tell me more Avery.  Try to imagine her, to picture her, what do you see?”

The lens of my mind’s eye turns and the foggy image of this peaceful wizard that Winona and I had poured so much attention into slowly begins to come into focus.  I could almost see her now, standing in her forest home in that same flowing gown and tiara as that beautiful princess I saw near the front of the book.

“She’s…she’s small.”  I whisper.  “Slight of build.”

“With a 31 Physical that makes sense.”

“Her features are delicate.  Delicate as a daisy.”  I say, my eyes focused on some far away fantasy realm.  “Her ears are pointed, her eyebrows a bit slanted.  She’s got big eyes, long lashes.”

“Very elvish.  Good stuff.  Keep going.”

“She’s…”  The words catch in my throat as old fears begin to swell.

“Go ahead Avery.”

“She’s…”

Winona waits a few seconds then places a hand lightly upon my shoulder.  “What’s her skin color?”

“Fair.”  I say.

“Her hair?”

“B-Blonde.”

“Eyes?”

“Blue.”

Again the brow raises.  “Go on.”

“She…”  I say softly.  “She looks after herself.  Her hair is cut short for an elf.”  I let out a laugh.  “A really cute style.”

“Cute?”

I nod.  “And she is perfumed.  She smells of…of…lilac.”

“Mmm, sounds nice.”

“Yes.  She likes nice things.  Long gowns, elegant jewelry, nothing over the top or tacky or crass.”

“A real lady, huh?”

“Yes!”  I smile.  “I am a lady.  Is there make-up in this world?”

She tilts her head.  “Yeah.  Of course.”

“I wear it.”  I say as the ravishing elf maiden that I was creating now stared back at me as if in a mirror.  “Not enough to look tawdry but…enough to look her best.”

“And is her name Avery?”

“PFFFT!”  I cover my face as a fit of embarrassed giggles come burbling out of me.  “This isn’t me!  It’s just a character!”

“Uh huh.”  She says dubiously, a big grin spreading on her face.  “I’ve got an idea.”  She says as she takes my hand.  “Come on Sprout.”

“Where are we…?”  I mumble as Winona leads me toward her closet.  “What are you…?”

Taking a familiar sleeveless blue dress from off of a hanger she says.  “A little character building exercise, before you choose a name.”

“Oh!”  I wave my hands.  “No, no, no.  I can’t…”

Grabbing my arms she pushes them up over my head.  With a firm look she commands.  “Stay.”

I nod and stay right like I am.

She gives the dress a gentle flick to straighten it out then bunches it up in her hands.  I stand frozen as she steps in…and slips the garment down over my raised arms.  The long dress tumbles down over my clothed body.   Being sized for her the dress was much too large for me, going all the way down to brush to top of my feet.  Winona tilts her head as she looks me up and down.  After smoothing out a few folds and wrinkles she walks around behind me to zip up the zipper that ran up my back.  As I feel the bust of the dress cinch around my chest my breathe begins to quicken.

She strides back around to the front, checking me out all along the way.  Looking down into my eyes she says.  “Pa-pow.”

“Hah.”  I let out a gasp, a scared smile upon my face.

“Mm hm.”  She nods.  “Hmmm, a belt.  Yes.”  She spins and hurries into the washroom, quickly returning with the cloth belt from a green bathrobe that she had hanging in there.  With a deft flip she whips it around my body and ties it off.  She then twists it so that the knot sat at my left hip.  With the belt on the loosely hanging dress now had shape.  “Avery!”  She exclaims as her hands tighten along the sides of my slender body.  “How you got hips like that?  A boy’s got no damn business havin hips like that.  God damn.”

I titter self-consciously.  Nobody had ever complimented my hips before.

With a shake of her head she returns to the task at hand.  She snaps her fingers.  “Spell book, components.”

“Huh?”

Taking my arms, which were still over my head, she brings them down to my sides.  “Don’t move.”

Off she goes again, this time to the bookshelf.  There she grabs the biggest, thickest tome that she could find and a leather dice bag.  With these items she returns.  The book she hands to me, I hold it both hands against my chest, and the pouch she ties to the right side of my belt.  “Ha ha!  Yes.  Now she’s coming together.”

I just smile…and smile…and smile some more.  I couldn’t help myself.

Standing back she taps her chin.  “Let’s see…hmm.”  Taking a hair brush she steps close and starts to brush my hair!  Unable to move or even make a noise I just stare up at her as she changes my hair style from perfectly smooth to teased and tussled.  “There she is.”  She puts the brush down.  Opening a jewelry box on her dresser she glances back at me.  “What kind of jewelry do you wear?”

“Wh-what?”

“Jewelry.”  She says.  “What kind?”

“A…A…A tiara.”  I whisper.

“Mmm, I don’t have one of those.”  She says.  “But I do have…this.”  Reaching up into a box on the closet’s upper shelf she produces a white plastic hair hand.  She returns to me, readies my hair with a few combs of her fingers, then guides the band over my forehead and into my hair until the teeth dig in to keep it in place.  “That’ll have to do.”

I just stand there gawping at her, unable to grasp what was happening here, as she gives me another once over.  With a quirky grin she brings a finger to my chin to close my open mouth.

“Stand straight.”  She says softly.  “You are a lady, remember?”

Without even thinking about it my back straightens, my chin lowers, and my feet edge closer together as I stand with what I imagined was the poise of an elf.

“Atta girl.”  She says warmly.

Atta…GIRL!?  Ohhhhh.  Words cannot describe the joy I am feeling.

“Necklace?  Bracelet?  Rings?”

I nod.

From the jewelry box she produces a slender gold chain with a pendant in the shape of feather, a plastic green bracelet, and a ring with a central square sapphire surrounded my tiny diamonds.  The ring looked antique, probably some sort of inheritance or hand-me-down.  The ring she slides onto the index finger of my right hand.  The bracelet she places on my left arm, halfway up my forearm instead of my wrist to give it a sort of fantasy feel.  And the pendant she leans close to slip the chair around my slender neck.  I savor the warmth and smell of her body as she does so.

Taking a backward step she evaluates her handiwork.  “Almost perfect.”  She smiles.  “But not quite there.”  Grabbing a cream colored, soft sided, rectangular case from her dresser she takes my hand.  “Come on.”

She takes me to her bed!  There she lays me down on top of the soft blankets.

“Wh-wh-what are you d-doing?”

Winona waggles the case before setting it beside me.  “You said she wore makeup”

“What!?”  I protest, half talking and half giggling like a crazy person.  “He he he!  N-n-no!  He he he!  I c-can’t!”

She slips the book from my hand and sets it to the side then takes one of her many pillows and lays it over my pelvis.  “Quit squirming Sprout.”  She laughs as she straddles me and sits down on the pillow, trapping me beneath her!  “This is happening.  GM says so.”

“I can’t!  Ha ha ha ha!”  I cover my face with my hands.  “I c-c-can’t!”

Winona grabs my wrists and with humbling strength forces them down to my sides.  Tightening her knees into me she pins my arms against my flanks.  She then lets her full weight settle down onto me.  My body held, my arms immobilized, something inside of me takes over…and I go very, very still.

She smiles and pats my chest.  “That’s better.  Good girl.”  Straddling me as if she were riding me she sits up tall, looking like a sexy giantess to this overwhelmed viewer.  She straightens her glasses and makes herself comfortable.  Placing the cosmetics bag on my belly she zips it open and begins to rummage around.  “Let’s see.  Elf.  Nature.  Mage.  Yeah, I think I can do something with that.”

So many emotions were whizzing around my skull at once that I didn’t even know what to think right now.  I only knew two things for sure.  I was happy.  And I was thankful that the pillow was there between us.  I don’t think I had ever been harder in my life!

Chapter 16