Ted's Dolls 27: Mary (Patreon)

If you haven't read any of the Ted's Dolls stories before, you should read Ted's Dolls 1: Jane before reading this one. Mary was last seen in Ted's Doll 10: Edwin.

She typed with a precision that belied her inner turmoil. The post was she was crafting was supposed to put her heart out there for all to see. The friendship forum would be where everyone who knew her anonymous user name would sympathize with her. Perhaps they would have useful advice, too.

“Hey, Edwin, how’s it going?” Freddy said as he entered Edwin’s room. He put his hand on Candace’s thigh and said, “You are looking lovely as well, Doll.”

“She hates it when you touch her.”

“I know. But it doesn’t mean anything. It’s not like I was groping her.”

“If you know if bothers her, why do you do it?”

“Why do I do half the things I do?”

The door opened and Mary entered. She seemed to immediately notice something was up with Freddy. “What did he do now?”

“I’m stung.”

“Just his usual antics.”

“Ugh,” Mary said. She interposed herself between Freddy and the doll and said, “Good evening, Candace.”

The doll named Candace made no response to any of this.

“What are we studying first?” Edwin asked to cut the tension.

“English Lit? Cyrano to be specific.” Freddy said, sitting down and getting out a book.

“What’s to study? Didn’t you read the book?”

“I watched the movie.”

Mary’s and Edwin’s eyes rolled in tandem.

A few hours later, Mary said she was tired and excused herself. She was not far from her own room when Freddy’s hand was on her shoulder. “Wait,” he said. She whirled around and was about to verbally cut him down when he continued. “What’s the matter? You look like you’re not right.”

“What?” She said, not expecting empathy from Freddy.

“Do you need to talk?”

As much as she wanted to believe this was Freddy trying to get into her pants, she did need to talk. She turned and opened the door to her room. She stepped in and held the door open for Freddy.

Tentatively, he followed her into her room. Her room was less goth than her clothing usually was. There were a few posters for some old punk bands. But the bedding was browns and golds, not blacks and grays as he would have expected. There were three porcelain dolls dressed in mid-19th century clothing on a shelf above her bed. While they could have been straight out of horror film, they seemed too well maintained for that vibe to stick.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the inside of your room.”

“As it should be,” she said. She pointed him to the desk chair as she sat at the edge of her bed. After a short awkward pause, she blurted out, “What?”

“What what? I thought you needed someone to listen to you. So, talk.”

“You don’t usually make yourself out to be the listening type.”

“Because people who do get their ears talked off. But, this is a special occasion. You usually have everything put together but I think that’s turned into a facade. So talk.”

Neither spoke for several minutes. She was staring at him like he had been replaced by a pod person. He just waited patiently. “I miss Candace,” Mary finally said, breaking the silence.

“You attend almost the same classes as she does. You eat lunch together. How do you miss Candace?”

“We used to spend time together, long hours together, on weekends.”

“Ah, and now she spends her weekends with Edwin.”

Mary looked at the floor for a moment before whispering, “Yes.”

Freddy let that linger.

“It’s not that I don’t want her and Edwin to be together. But does it have to the entire weekend without seeing anyone else?”

“So, you don’t like that she chooses to be a doll all weekend.”

“I guess.”

“You could do the same thing and maybe the weekends without her wouldn’t be so long.”

“I don’t want to be a doll.”

“I’m fairly certain you haven’t tried it.”

“Don’t get ideas.”

“These old ideas? Pshh. I’ve got ideas you can’t even dream of.”

“Why are you a jerk?”

“Practice,” he said. “Look, maybe talk to Ted. You don’t have to be a sex toy doll. Ted does other kinds of dolls. From what I understand, time as a doll is very relaxing, with or without sex. Maybe it would give you a chance to see what it’s like for her.”

“I never expected you to be helpful.”

“I’m probably not. Most folks would probably tell you to talk to Candace.”

“I can’t talk to her. I don’t want her to feel bad.”

“And in my brilliance I knew you would say that.” He stood. “I’ve put a couple ideas into your head. My work here is done. I’ll have my office assistant send you an invoice for this house call.”

Her eyes rolled again.

* * *

Ted looked up. Had he heard a knock on his door? He got up and opened the door. “Can I help you? It’s a little late to be a rental.”

“What?” Mary said. “No, um, I don’t want to be rented or to rent for that matter. But, about being a doll. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, you’re Mary right? Friend of Candace and Edwin?” He held the door open so she could enter.

“Yes.” She was not sure what she was expecting. Rumors on campus said the president of Eta Delta Tau could often be found in Ted’s dorm room posed in all manner of rude poses. But, on the other side of the threshold was just a dorm room with a single occupant. She stepped in and saw the couch but decided not to sit there. A dozen or more milk crates were stacked along the other wall. They seemed to be filled with various sets of clothes and shoes..

The door closed and Ted walked back to his desk as sat down. He turned to look at her and said, “What do you want to know?”

She was relieved by his direct attitude. “Why? Why do people spent time as dolls?”

“I suppose because they enjoy it. I wouldn’t have all those crates filled with people’s clothes if they didn’t enjoy it.”

“It must be so boring.”

“Well, as a doll, they kind of think like a doll so just existing is kind of their purpose. The sex dolls of course enjoy the sex as well. Why haven’t you asked Candace about this?”

“I don’t want to pry into her relationship with Edwin. That’s not my business.”

“There are other people you could talk to. Do you want me to ask some of my regulars if they’ll talk with you?”

“Don’t you know?”

“Actually, I’ve never spent any time as a doll. I just know people like doing it.”

“How do you sell a service you don’t enjoy employing yourself?”

“By knowing who wants to be a doll and who doesn’t.”

“How do you know that?”

“I just do. You are hard to read. I can usually tell by looking at someone whether they would enjoy a few hours, or more, as a doll. It’s part of the gift that gives me my powers.”

“I should go.”

“No, no. The easiest way to find out why people become dolls would be to become a doll yourself.”

“I’m not here for sex.”

“No, and I don’t mean a doll like that. I think you would enjoy being a small doll. Perhaps old fashioned.”

“Like a porcelain doll?”

“Yes, it would go with your goth vibe, too. Although I don’t have any doll clothes to dress you up in. I can turn people into a dolls but only naked dolls.”

“I have doll clothes in my room.”

“When you are ready, bring them by and I’ll turn you into a doll and set you on that shelf right there.”

“I’ll be right back.”

“As you like.”

She got up and left. In her room, she took the dress off one of her dolls. Before she returned to Ted’s room, she looked at the question she had posted earlier. All the advice was to talk to her friend, to see if she could enjoy the friend’s hobby with her, or to find a new best friend. Freddy had been better than this advice. She returned to Ted’s room with the doll-sized dress.

Ted opened the door for her and handed her an empty crate. “If you’re ready, go into the bathroom and take your clothes off. Put them and any jewelry you are wearing in the crate. Piercings are safe,” he added noting her eyebrow stud. “Let me know when you are ready and I’ll start the process.”

“Okay,” she said and went into the bathroom. She guessed the fact that he had people in his bathroom so often was why it was sparkling clean. She tried not to think about how she was getting naked in someone’s room as she took her clothes off. She found a plastic bag in the crate labeled shoes. He had thought of everything. Or maybe his dolls had made requests. Soon, she was looking at herself in the mirror. As much as she usually loathed looking at her reflection, especially when it was unclothed, she felt fine now.

“Are you ready?”

She was startled by his voice. She had almost forgotten where she was. “Yes.”

“You want to remain a doll until Sunday evening, right?”

“That sounds okay.”

“Okay, here goes. 3… 2… 1…”

That was dramatic, she thought. Almost instantly, she could not see herself. The doll was looking at the door of the vanity, about a foot off the ground. It had heard the transformation takes time and had thought it would be able to see it happen. Sometimes rumors are wrong.

Time passed and the doll did not mind. The door to the bathroom opened and Owner bent down and picked up Doll. “FYI, that took about forty minutes. From your point of view, it seemed instantaneous. It wasn’t.” He picked up the dress from the counter and left the bathroom. He spent a few minutes getting the doll into the dress before setting it down on the shelf as he had told Mary he would.

Doll watched as Owner retrieved the milk crate and stacked it among the other crates. Owner sat down at his computer and from Doll’s perspective, it could see Owner was playing the latest computer role-playing game that was all the rage these days.

Over time, people showed up to the dorm room carrying large sacks. Owner would accept the sacks and ask the Renters a few questions. After they left, he would carry the sack into the bathroom. Then he would come out and grab one of the crates and leave it in the bathroom as well. Once he was out of the bathroom he folded the sack and put it on a pile of them Doll had not noticed before.

Owner’s phone rang. “Hello, slut,” he said.

“You don’t need to tell me you won’t be stopping by.

“Yes, we’re dating. But, we aren’t joined at the hip.

“Fine, I’ll make it up to you as only I can.”

He hung up. Doll presumed the call had come from Paris. Why did she let him call her a slut? Although, the rumors about her were not very flattering. Still, it’s a nasty word, the doll thought.

By the end of the evening only a few crates were still unclaimed.

Owner resumed his game after most doll returns. Occasionally he would enter a note into another program after a doll was returned. His phone rang and he seemed surprised when he saw who was calling. “Hey, Richard, what’s up?” he said.

“What? That’s not possible.”

“I’ll be right there,” he said. He hung up and left immediately.