Duality - Chapter 8 (Novel Commission for Code-Shark101) (Patreon)

TAGS: Anthro, Transformation/TF, Slice-Of-Life, Milk/Lactation, BE, Hyper, F/F

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“So what happened in the room that day?” Linda spoke up, her voice slightly cracking.

“We… we were told a few things about you. About what happened to you,” Beth replied, choosing her words very carefully and looking around as if to check no one was listening, “most people were just shocked, a few were disgusted, Ruth was being a cunt as usual, but mostly the worst part was what came in the end.”

“Did they tell you to keep away from me?”

“No, they told us that if we didn’t do exactly as they said then we’d all be fired and then sued for interfering with their research project,” the young woman sighed, “you can imagine how well that went with everyone; Blake was furious at the rep, but he couldn’t really say or do anything, could he?”

“Why, was he mad he was being forced to work with me even more?” Linda chuckled.

“No, he got mad because the rep was threatening his employees and he told them only he got to do that,” Beth scoffed, “don’t know whether to be happy someone stood up to the bastards or even madder for the reason he did it, but it didn’t matter in the end. They got what they wanted; it’s not like anyone’s going to go to war with them over a job at a fucking diner.”

“Guess not… so why are you here?”

“Linda, I-”

“Don’t apologize, I understand why you didn’t want to talk to me,” Linda cut through as quickly as she could, hoping to divert the conversation away from that topic, “what I want to know is why you’re interfering if you’re so scared of what they might do to you.”

The answer didn’t come nearly as quickly as Linda hoped it would, though frankly she could understand why Bethany would have a hard time putting it to words. Hell, even she had issues so much as thinking about it sometimes; never in her life had she met anyone that made her feel what that gorgeous nerd did, and assuming she herself had even a fraction of that effect on the other woman, then it had to be hard on them as well. The answer itself was practically irrelevant by that point, seeing as they both knew what it was; it was the saying of it that mattered.

“Linda, come on, you kn-”

“Oh, I know. But I wanna hear you say it.”

Though her words were perfectly serious, her tone was anything but; in fact, it was hard to hide the tiny smirk developing at the edge of her lips when she teased her would-be partner like that, hoping that she’d pick up on it and at least relax a bit. Beth, for her part, loosened her grip just a bit and exhaled in a way that could maybe be considered a chortle before offering a small smooch on Linda’s neck, then moving to nuzzle against it.

“You know I love you, silly,” she cooed, “you don’t need to be all dramatic about it.”

“I know, but I still like hearing it from you,” Linda murred back, bending around as much as she could to give Beth a kiss of her own, “always brightens up my day, yaknow?”

The two smiled, the hug tightened, and they remained as such for the remainder of the milking cycle. It felt nice to be that warm, that comfortable, that accepted; after years of being starved for physical contact, having someone like Beth around who she could appreciate a long moment of silence with meant more for Linda than anything else ever could, and if there was anything she was dreading about her experimental treatments, it was the possibility that she might be sent elsewhere to work or live in. They could keep in touch, sure, but a long-distance relationship while she was under the surveillance of Rivtech didn’t strike Linda as something even remotely sustainable.

At the very least it was enough to tide her over for the rest of the day. Her breasts shrunk just enough that they hung low to below her navel, the support bra provided by the company let her walk around with only minor back pain, and there weren’t any major incidents to note, just a couple of rowdy children who didn’t understand the concept that food went on tables, not flooring. Her boss remained about as cordial as he was physically capable of being and Beth provided some low-level encouragement whenever the two got close enough together. By the end of her shift her bust had only grown a couple of cup sizes, so little that Linda figured she could hold it in until she got back home. For once, no surprises were waiting for her just before she was done with the day; the panda gal removed her uniform, put on her regular clothes… and was off.

Despite being “small” enough to fit in her car, Linda nonetheless called for a taxi anyway; word of her incident a couple of days before had already spread amongst the city’s cab drivers, so getting someone to show up at the café was… difficult. It took a lot of convincing and promises that she wouldn’t go growth-mad, but in the end they sent someone, a young man who was very clearly disappointed he didn’t have to heave a pair of tits bigger than him into the cab. Instead, Linda respectfully sat her tush in the back seat, said nothing the whole way, and then left the driver a tip for successfully avoiding looking at her bust via the rear view mirror. Even the elevator ride was smooth; no grinding of metal or creaking of pulleys, just a quiet journey up to the fourth floor and a clear view of her door.

It was what was inside that made her optimism come plummeting down.

A single letter, left underneath her door’s mail slot and emblazoned with Rivtech’s company logo, bearing both her name and the one of the head researcher in charge of her project. Linda could already tell it was going to be something terrible and-or life-upending; the last one had taken care of all the bureaucratic nonsense that had to be cleared, and after her little “incident” during work, there was no chance in a trillion years that she wasn’t going to be brought in for additional testing. And sure enough, that’s exactly what the letter said, in between a metric ton of legalese and assurances that everything was still within normal parameters: she was to present herself to the main testing lab the next day, at eight o’clock sharp, for a second round of “experimental procedures”; her job would be temporarily suspended and she would be required to live on-site until such a time as the team was reassured that her condition was stable, after which they would, once again, “renegotiate their agreement”.

Linda wasn’t even surprised; something like that was bound to happen eventually, and if not now then sometime later. It was the timing of it that left her wondering if some kind of unseen god had an agenda against her, or if she had insulted the very concept of luck in the past and was now reaping the consequences. Of course she had to receive the letter after her moment of intimacy with Beth, of course it had to happen right after she worried it might happen; anything else and Linda might just start thinking she was owed a break or something, and goodness knows we couldn’t have that. Nothing but constant misery and regret for her, from now until the end of her days.

She sighed. No point fighting it; either she went there of her own accord or they would show up at her workplace and drag her out, and the last thing Linda wanted was to make a scene. Calmly, she proceeded to take off all of her clothes, arrange them in a neat pile, and then pick up her phone; if she was going to be gone for a long while, there was no point beating around the bush anymore.

“Beth?” she spoke after her soon-to-be-lover picked up, “just got some really bad news from Rivtech. No, I’m not ill, I’m not gonna die, but I’m going to… go away for a bit. Can you come to my place, I need someone to be with me right now or I’m gonna freak out.”

Not exactly a lie, not exactly the whole truth, just enough that Linda wouldn’t feel too bad about the “deception”. While she waited, the panda absentmindedly played with her bare bust, hoping to get some reaction out of it… to no avail. Would’ve been nice to have a pair of tits large enough to bury herself under so Beth could play with them, but hell, maybe arousal would do it; even if that wasn’t the case, she was still getting a whole night’s worth of entertainment out of them.

For both their sakes.

The knock on the door came about fifteen minutes later, followed by a very worried Beth calling out for her. With the bed groaning, Linda got up, walked towards the noise, and took a deep breath. Whatever reaction she got out of her friend would effectively determine their relationship going forward… but it wasn’t time to be ruled by fear. Not now, not anymore. The panda gal opened the door, revealing her naked self to a very worried-looking young woman whose eyes went bug-eyed almost immediately after seeing what was waiting for her. They blabbed something, incomprehensible mutterings and excuses, before Linda took a step forward and stated, simply:

“Get in. We’ll worry about dinner later.”

“... ok. Ok, ok, this is fine, this fine?” Beth blabbered on, deliberately sidestepping the immense, milky mounds in front of her, “Linda, what are y-”

“No talk” -  the panda girl grabbed her partner’s hand with her own, squeezing her fingers so tightly that both of them had their knuckles turn white - “Need cuddles.”

With that, she led her guest over to the living room, where the two were to spend their time in the foreseeable future. Beth was far too shocked to say or do anything, preferring to be dragged onto the sofa and let her friend take initiative in explaining just what was going on, even if this meant having to deal with an uncomfortably loud amount of sloshing from their part. It was one thing for her to help Linda during work; there was a certain level of detachment there that made even their more intimate moments be easier to deal with, as at least part of her could rationalize it as being a necessity to help the panda through her work shift. In the privacy of their own home, however, was… different. By all means, the two of them were far more well-acquainted with one another’s company and touch than just friends, but this felt like a sudden step upwards that Beth wasn’t sure she was ready for.

Despite her concerns, she raised none of them, allowing Linda to lead her to the couch and ask her to sit down, after which she plopped her own ass on top of her lap. The hostess was just as heavy as her size seemed to imply, making it a wonder just how she managed to move from place to place with tits that large. Beth did and said nothing, hoping that Linda would lead the way in taking them to wherever she had planned for the night, but the panda gal instead just sat there, slowly melting into her embrace, their warm body slumping against hers as their breath grew deeper and slower.

“... are you still with me?” Beth finally spoke up, receiving a curt nod in reply, “Do you want me to rub your ears again?”

There was a short pause before Linda nodded again, adjusting her position so she’d be closer to her closest friend. Anyone else getting that close to the two fuzzy circles on her head would immediately get a slap for their troubles, but the panda was happy to make an exception for the person on whose lap she was on; there was something about the way Beth touched her that made her feel… not necessarily aroused, even, but safe. Comfortable. Like she could surrender herself completely and still not have to worry about anything, because Bethany would keep her safe in her embrace. And Beth, being the attentive partner she was, never failed to deliver on that promise; she took her time to get started, having to work her way up from Linda’s neckfluff, up to her cheeks and then through her hair, slowly edging closer to her destination while allowing her fingers to run through as much of Linda as possible. The panda girl’s spine was alight with electrical jolts, wanting so badly for her to turn around and plant a kiss on her lover’s lips… but that was for later. Now, she got cuddled.

Ten minutes of foreplay it took before Beth’s fingers softly landed on Linda’s ears, and yet every second was worth the wait as soon as their warm touch came upon one of her most sensitive areas. She had this move where one finger pressed tightly on the outside while another ran small circles on the inner part, something that all-but forced Linda’s legs to rub against one another; they had both agreed never to try that one again as long as anyone was looking, and this being her living room, the panda had to admit she was being hoisted by her own petard there. Beth was clearly enjoying the opportunity to blow off some steam herself, even if she was polite enough not to go any further, despite her partner’s obvious body language; she was a guest, and as a guest was beholden to whatever the mistress of the house decided. And if said mistress wanted to snuggle, well, that’s what her job was until further notice.

“I got a letter from Rivtech,” Linda mumbled after… some time,” they want me to go back for another round of testing. Full course, so… I’m gonna have to leave. I don’t know for how long. Might be days, might be weeks… I’m sorry.”

Beth didn’t say anything. In fact, she didn’t react at all; it was clear to the both of them that Linda had more to say, judging from her tone, and it wouldn’t do for the conversation to turn into a back-and-forth when the panda still had to clear some things out of her mind.

“The past weeks have been… I don’t even know. I’m sorry I showed up at the door like that, I’m sorry I had to rely on you so much, I’m… I don’t know, Beth. I don’t know what to think of you” - Linda repressed a sob, poorly disguising it as an attempt to readjust herself on Beth’s lap - “I’ve never felt this for anyone before, and now I have to throw it all away and it’s just… I feel like it would’ve been better if we never got together, not with a condition like mine.”

Still nothing. There were a lot of things Beth wanted to say to that woman, mostly in the form of slapping the back of their head and telling them they were being overly dramatic for no good reason and she herself would be there waiting for them as soon as the testing was finished; truth be told, the human woman had wanted to have that talk for quite some time at that point, if only to clear up what exactly their relationship was. They were clearly close, but rarely met outside work. There was intimacy there, and yet it was never explored outside of the workplace, oddly enough. Was it all just an arrangement of convenience, wrapped up in just enough closeness that they could pretend it wasn’t? Or was it something deeper, something they both had to have a long discussion about before they went anywhere else? Whatever it was, Linda still wasn’t finished.

“But I need you to know that if I had to choose between us staying like this forever, on the couch, right now, or going to my bedroom and breaking a few springs while you milked me like a cow… I don’t think I’d pick the bedroom.”

It was amazing how something so inherently lewd could somehow have such a deep impact on someone. Beth actually wanted to cry, even if the welling tears had to contend with her desire to laugh at how brazen and crass her friend was being; maybe that’s what love was, the ability to say something so dumb and yet make it sound genuinely heartfelt.

“I love you, Beth,” Linda finished.

“You’re an idiot. And I love you too,” the human woman at last replied, “and you’re not getting rid of me so easily. I went with you to Blake’s office, I stood by your side when the rep showed up, so I’m not gonna let you go now. I can’t move in with you, but you can be sure I’ll be there every day, right after my shift. And I’ll stick around on my days off too, maybe we can even have some time together if they let us!”

“Beth…”

“Because you’re not alone, Linda. I… I’m gonna admit, at first it was the whole, you know, fluffy anthro panda look, you know damn well I had those websites on my favourites list. But there’s so much more beneath the fur, and even I was surprised when I found out. I love talking to you, I love hearing you nerd out about the stuff you love, I love just being with you. I could sit here for years on end and I wouldn’t ever want to get up.”

“Beth, come on…”

“Because I love you, Linda.”

True words. Words of weight and importance, at least as far as Beth cared. Linda seemed to think so too, given she gave up trying to hide her sobbing and let her tears flow freely, even going so far as to forgo the ear-petting and turn around, bringing the two into a tight, somewhat constricting hug that left the both of them unable to breathe properly. But that was fine, that was alright; they had themselves there, and that was all the nourishment they needed. Just as long as they could remain together, even if it was on different sides of a one-way mirror...

Then they could be happy.