A Handsy Date

Melinda stood in front of Zach’s door. She had been standing there for several minutes at this point. She raised her hand to knock again but couldn’t bring herself to do so. She could hear movement on the other side of the door, though, so she knew Zach was inside. I can do this. I can do this. She raised her hand to knock this time, determined to follow through, but the door opened before she could.

Zach said, “Come in.” He didn’t hold the door open for her but simply walked back into the room and sat down at the dining table. He gestured towards the seat across from him.

Melinda noticed him leering at the tight denim pants, and her cleavage nearly popping out of her shirt. She sat down nervously across from him, placing the large sports bag she was carrying next to her, and started to wring her hands together under the table. Zach simply continued to stare directly into her cleavage unapologetically. Melinda felt herself getting turned on by that, thanks to the upgrade. “Um… so… I’m here when you asked me to be. Are we… I mean, am I going to be taking you out on a date? Or… or will you be punishing me?”

Zach found it hard to look Melinda in the face right now, but managed to pull his gaze away from her cleavage and look her in the eyes. “Why did you agree to let Lynn buy those transformations for you?”

“Oh, so she told you about that.” Melinda glanced away from Zach for a moment. “I wanted her help. I figured that of everyone here, she’s the one who might convince you to give me a real chance. I’d like to eventually earn your forgiveness, but don’t expect to.”

“And you think I’m pleased with the outcome here?”

“I didn’t really expect you to change your opinion because of the transformations. I just wanted Lynn on my side to some degree. The transformations were the cost of that, and honestly weren’t that bad. Would you answer my initial question? What are we doing?”

Zach let out a heavy sigh, “Sometimes when I look at you, I just want to punch you squarely in the face as hard as I can.”

Melinda looked a bit hopeful, “Only sometimes?”

Zach nodded, as his gaze had inadvertently lowered again towards her ample cleavage.

Melinda flushed as she attempted to flirt, “Like what you see?”

“Hmm… I’m going to let you take me on that date you wanted to. I want to warn you I’ve not forgiven you. I’m not just going to do something like spanking your ass repeatedly as a punishment either. I want to know something first. Why aren’t you wearing a sexy nurse outfit?”

Melinda bit her lip and hesitated in responding. “I… I figured, worst case, you’d end up groping me, even if you didn’t want anything to do with me. I need points, Zach. If you want, I brought one and can change.”

“Not necessary, you look quite fuckable like this.”

“Well… umm… thank you?” Damnit, I so wish I could tell him off. “So, you aren’t going to punish me?”

Zach shook his head, “I didn’t say that. I’m just not going to simply pick something and say that’s enough, and you’ve paid for your crimes.” Melinda looked crestfallen. Zach raised an eyebrow, “You would prefer I do that? Even if it were far more ****?”

“I don’t know. Maybe?”

“I’ll think about it. Now what are we doing for this date?”

Melinda stood and picked up the large sports bag she was carrying. “Follow me.” She made her way to the door, glad that Zach simply followed her without protest. She also realized that Zach was staring at her ass as she got turned on by his gaze. Great, just great. I guess I’m an exhibitionist now. They entered the elevator together, and Melinda pressed the button for the athletic facilities. The ride was smooth at first, but then suddenly became quite jerky, with the elevator even tilting to the side dramatically at one point.

This caused the two of them to trip, and Melinda ended up falling on top of Zach. Zach’s hands immediately started to fondle her butt cheeks. The ride ended up taking fifteen whole minutes, much to both of their annoyance.

Stepping off the elevator, Zachary asked, “Am I imagining things, or was it smoother whenever we were touching each other?”

“You most certainly weren’t. Maybe we should try that on the way back later to make sure?”

Zach nodded his agreement.

Melinda led the way into the facility and down two flights of stairs. Zach whistled at the size of the place. “So what are we doing?” Zach asked.

Melinda replied, “Almost there. I’m really hoping you’ll give it a chance.” Melinda found the door she was looking for and went through.

Zach followed in after her and went still the moment he entered the room. It was an extremely large room, set up as an archery range. Melinda hadn’t noticed Zach’s motionlessness yet and started to take things out of her sports bag. First were two long cases containing a bow for each of them. Then a pair of quivers, each stocked with target arrows like they used to use. Melinda turned towards Zach and finally saw him standing there. His left hand was trembling. She slowly closed the distance between the two of them and gently took his left hand in both of hers. “If this is too much, we don’t have to, but I know how much you enjoyed this before I took it from you. I’d like to help you get this back.”

Zach slowly turned his head down towards Melinda. A confusing torrent of emotions was raging through him. He barely heard what she was saying as she took his hand in hers. Then he saw the expression on her face. One of genuine remorse, for having taken something precious away from him. Zach let out a slow breath. “Okay.”

Melinda let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “I brought some lighter-weight bows as we are both out of practice, and I remembered Delilah said that the disuse of your left hand and arm caused some atrophy.” Melinda let go of his hand and moved to put on her wrist and breast guards. Zach put on a wrist guard while staring at how the breast guard squished together Melinda’s breast in a very pleasing manner. He walked up right behind her, pressing up against her back. He reached out and gently picked up the larger bow. His other hand, seeming to have a mind of its own, snaked around Melinda’s waist and settled on one of her breasts.

Zach asked, “So, this is supposed to be some physical therapy?”

Melinda nodded. “Something like that. I figured I could help you get back towards 100%. Not just physically either.” I don’t know whether to be pleased or outraged. Does he even realize he’s pressing a massive erection into my back? Or that he’s groping me?

“You said you were out of practice?”

Melinda nodded, “I quit shooting not long after your injury. I couldn’t stand it. Not after what I did.”

Zach stepped back from her, holding his bow. He tried pulling back on the string and found it somewhat difficult. He slowly brought the string back to rest. Melinda placed a hand on his arm. She said, “I’ll come work out with you and shoot with you as often as you want. I’m not a physical therapist, but I do know some of what it entails.”

Zach put down the bow for a moment. Then he pushed Melinda up against the wall. He was pressing against her chest with one hand. He leaned in close. “I hate you for taking this from me, but thank you. I don’t think I’d have tried to pick up a bow without someone pushing me to.” Zach noticed his hand was firmly pushing on one of her breasts through the breast guard. Then he had an idea. “Melinda, I’d like to give you a command, but I’m not sure if it will work as I hope.”

“Umm… okay?” Melinda replied hesitantly.

“I’m commanding you to be honest with me and answer any of my questions.”

Melinda felt the command. She felt deep down that she couldn’t try to trick him at all anymore with that command in place. “What… what did you want to know?” She asked hesitantly, still quite flustered by the continued groping of her chest.

“How do you feel about me groping you and generally staring at your new curves?”

Melinda immediately felt a conflict inside her. She had to be honest and answer, but she also couldn’t protest the actions. After a moment, she replied almost without thought. “I feel like I deserve it somewhat, and it turns me on. I’m not particularly thrilled about it, but it isn’t horrible either.”

Zach pressed closer, pushing up against her, and slid his other hand around, grabbing her butt cheek and slightly lifting her onto the balls of her feet. “Hmmm, in that case I’ve decided on something. I don’t want you wearing your nurse outfits without my permission.”

“Umm… But…”

“But what? You said you’d do what I wanted of you, right?”

“It’s just… it isn’t even the attention or the touching.” Melinda felt super embarrassed about this, but Zach had asked a question. “Caroline wouldn’t stop groping me all night the time I went to sleep in normal pjs. I could hardly get any sleep. And yes, if you want to teach me a lesson by insisting I accept being groped and catcalled, I’ll do it. Now, what exactly are you planning on doing here?” Melinda was curious, given both of their positions.

Melinda’s left leg was now wrapped around Zach, as he kept pushing up on that side of her butt. She was on her tiptoes now with her shoulders pressed firmly against the wall and her back arched. Zach noticed that she was breathing rather heavily and her pupils had dilated. Their groins were pressed up against each other as well. Not getting a response from Zach as he was assessing their positions, Melinda asked, “I was told rather explicitly not to have sex with you by Lynn at least until after her. I’d rather not piss her off.” Well, crap, I can’t even tell him to let me go.

Zach took stock of what he was doing, slowly lowered Melinda back down to the ground, and backed away from her. “I… I don’t know what came over me.”

“It was my transformation, at least somewhat. So I’ll ask: are you sure you don’t want me wearing nurse outfits regularly?”

Zach noticed Melinda was breathing heavily. Zach didn’t immediately reply as he mulled things over. Fucking hell. I thought it said occasional groping. Zach eyed Melinda up and down hungrily, and his dick stiffened. Okay, this might be more problematic than I first thought.

Melinda went and grabbed the bows and handed one to Zach. She said, “Think on it while we shoot. You go first.” Zach took the bow in hand and moved to a firing position. He felt the bow in his hand, familiar yet foreign at the same time. He made substantial efforts to avoid using his left hand for years, but now the bow was in his hand without pain. He drew an arrow from the quiver and knocked it, and began pulling back. As he drew back the string and aimed, he felt the muscles in his left arm tremble. He fired the first arrow. Due to the trembling, his aim was off, and while it hit the target, it wasn’t even in the outermost circle.

As soon as he wasn’t straining against the bow, the ache in his muscles disappeared.

Melinda asked, “Did that hurt?”

Zach shook his head. “Not really. There was a small ache in my muscles, but it disappeared when I stopped pulling on the string.”

“But your arm was trembling,” Melinda replied.

Zach nodded.

Melinda frowned, “I was afraid of that, after thinking over what Delilah had said.” Melinda swore, “That bitch.” Melinda seemed truly pissed, realizing what she had done.

Zach raised an eyebrow, confused. “She’s a demon. I wouldn’t expect her to be kind.”

“Yeah, but I figured that was more towards us since the premise is about punishing us for the wrongs against you.” Melinda closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. “She didn’t actually fix the damage to your hand, which makes me think that the rest of your fitness transformation might be a trap.”

“A trap? What do you mean?”

Melinda sighed. Great, his recovery is going to be a lot harder. I hope it will be possible at least. “I mean that it isn’t as positive as it seems on the surface. Would you be willing to tell me, did you ever have your arm tremble like that when using your left hand or arm after the injury?”

Zach nodded, “Yeah, if I carried stuff with it for too long.”

Melinda extended her hand towards his, asking, “May I?” Zach held out his left hand to her. She held his hand in hers and examined the scar she was responsible for. She frowned, looking at how bad it was. She gently pressed down on the scar, and Zach’s arm twitched slightly for just a moment. “She didn’t heal the damage. It isn’t just that she didn’t get rid of the muscle atrophy. All she did was get rid of the pain. That’s dangerous, Zach.”

“Why?”

“How to explain…” Melinda thought about this for a moment. “Right now, I bet you could run a marathon. I don’t know where your enhanced stamina comes from, but let’s assume magic. Now, if you did that every day, damage would build up, but you wouldn’t notice it until something critical failed. You don’t have enhanced durability to go with your enhanced stamina. Maybe you have enhanced recovery, maybe not.”

Zachary let out a sigh, “That does seem like her. She clearly wants to break me as much as, if not more than, all of you. So does that mean I won’t be able to shoot properly ever again?”

She shook her head, “I don’t know. We should definitely work on strengthening your left arm, but we should do so carefully.”

“I tried PT before, but the pain was always too much. Would trying that now possibly make things worse?”

“I don’t know. I honestly can’t without seeing your chart, and even then, I’m not a doctor, so it’s guesswork at best. Even a normal doctor probably couldn’t tell you either… You know because of the magic.”

Zach looked towards the target again and tried firing another arrow, getting a very similar result. After the fourth arrow, he put down the bow. “Damnit!” He sighed and tried to compose himself. “Okay, so what should we do to help me recover? And why was this worse than when I picked up Piper? That took a lot more ****.”

Melinda took a hand dynamometer out of the bag she had brought. “Using this for starters, but considering it looks like your left arm is smaller than your right one, we should do other exercises as well. As for why it was worse than when you carried Piper, positioning is my best guess.”

“Well, not to derail your plans exactly, but I don’t think using this,” Zach held up the dynamometer, “Is really a date activity.”

“You are correct.” Melinda replied, “Luckily, I did plan for this. Are you up for a more general workout, or not?”

“That works for me,” Zach said, a bit disinterested.

Melinda nodded and led Zach towards another part of the athletic facility. Melinda seemed determined to run him through his paces and kept notes as they went through each exercise. Melinda explained she wanted a baseline to compare to later.

As they went through dozens of exercises, at first, they would either do them together or one after the other, depending on whether they needed a spotter. Whenever Zach was spotting Melinda, though, his gaze seemed to linger either on her bust or butt. Oftentimes, his hands would linger on her body, sending shivers down her spine.

Once, Zachary was fairly certain he saw her even checking out his ass when he had bent down to pick up a weight.

Eventually, Melinda hit her limit. Melinda said, wiping off sweat from her brow, “I’m kaput. If you want to continue, you can, but just keep in mind what I mentioned earlier. You could end up overtaxing yourself without realizing it.”

“I think I’ll keep going for a bit more,” Zach replied, sitting down next to Melinda and taking a drink of water. After setting down his drink, his hand nearest her settled on her thigh without thought. “I figure I should mention this, since you’re taking such detailed notes.” Zach glanced at the notebook resting on her other leg. It was on the sixth or seventh page already. She has really tiny handwriting. “So, something is odd. I don’t have the stabbing pain in my hand at all. My muscles, on the other hand, do get sore and hurt. Like when I did those squats. I could feel each one being harder than the last. The thing is that soreness just doesn’t seem to linger after a short rest.”

Zach saw her nodding along as she was jotting down his assessments and her thoughts about them. Melinda asked, “Could you do some more squats for me now? We did those a while ago.”

Zach shrugged and got into position to do some squats, and this time he was certain that she was staring at his ass every time he did another squat. When he finished a set of ten, Melinda asked, “So how was it?”

“Like I hadn’t done any squats earlier.”

“Hmmm…. Well, that might be good news. It could mean that you actually do recover at a faster pace than normal. If that’s the case, we could adjust your training schedule some. Let’s not do anything crazy at first, though.”

“Works for me.” Zach continued working out for another thirty minutes before eventually calling it quits. Sitting back down next to her, he said, “Thanks.” He didn’t elaborate or say anything else and just sipped on some water.

Eventually, Melinda asked, “What for?”

“I appreciate you’re trying to make things right. Also, I apologize for earlier. I shouldn’t have said you should forgo the nurse outfits without my permission.”

Melinda looked away sheepishly. “You’re welcome, I guess. I was serious earlier too. If you wanted me to, I would do that, without you forcing the issue. At least excluding while sleeping.”

“Well, that’s up to you. Melinda, last night I was rather pissed with you. I’ve still not forgiven you, but a lot of the anger I felt towards you has lessened. I don’t know if I want to build something meaningful with you, but I’m not going to try and harshly punish you either.”

Melinda raised a curious eyebrow, “Seriously? I ask because I sort of expected you to do something much worse than make me ignore my outfit requirements.”

Zach nodded, “Things aren’t okay between us; I want that to be clear. I’m going to try not to take out my frustrations on you, though.”

Melinda noticed that Zach’s hand had already resumed resting on her inner thigh. She bit her lip, not sure if she wanted to ask her next question. She sighed. I need to know what kind of guy he really is. “Why not?”

“Are you saying you’d like me to take out my frustrations on you?”

“No. No, I am not. I mean, why aren’t you taking them out on me when you most certainly are taking them out on some of the others?”

He nodded his head in understanding. “Let me ask a few questions of you first. When you messed with my bow, did you intend for me to get injured?”

“Of course not!” She exclaimed. She looked aghast at even the thought that someone would do that.

“Before you said you would have come forward if you thought it would have helped me, were you serious?”

“Yes, even if it would have fucked up my life badly.”

“You’ve essentially answered your own question,” Zach replied, then continued to elaborate. “It was an accident. Even if what you meant to do was still wrong, there is a big difference between cheating in a competition and deliberately maiming someone. You’re also genuinely remorseful, taking responsibility for the harm you caused and willing to attempt to make things right, even if you ultimately can’t. I’m wondering, as I don’t remember you being on a medical track freshman year, did you go into nursing because of what happened?”

Melinda took a moment to answer, “I’m not sure. Maybe? I know I looked into things that might help you. Both to cover your medical bills and to help you recover, but I didn’t really know how bad it was. I suppose that did start me down the path towards medicine. Maybe deep down, the guilt drove me. But I know you haven’t been going easy on Heather or Piper.”

“What do you mean? About Piper specifically.”

“Well, I woke up with Caroline’s breasts squished up against my back. Those things are massive now. She also mentioned that her nipples felt particularly sensitive now. Not exactly the kindest thing to do to either of them.”

Zach snorted in amusement. “Piper would disagree about the size increase. As for the rest of her changes… well, Piper still isn’t taking responsibility for what she did; she isn’t remorseful in the slightest and is continuing to insult me. Her handling of things is completely different from yours.”

“What about Heather?”

Zach scowled at the thought of his ex-wife. “She told me that part of the reason she slept with Xin was to deliberately hurt me. It wasn’t an accident that Xin was one of my students either. My suffering was the point. She already knew that there were rumors about me creeping on women, and she picked Xin because I was becoming more successful than her. That took planning and forethought. The fact that she regrets what the fallout has been doesn’t even remotely make up for what she did.”

“Wow… she’s a bitch.”

That caused Zach to laugh.

Melinda smiled weakly. “But even then, are you going to punish her forever?”

“What do you think I’m doing to her?”

“I know you have her locked up in a chastity device with a vibrating dildo inside her.”

Zach nodded, “That’s true, but as I told her, that can come off at any time she wants, and it would.”

Melinda raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Zach asked, “Do you think I owe her a chance to fix things between us because of our current predicament?”

Melinda didn’t need long to respond. “No. She cheated on you. She doesn’t get to complain that you don’t want anything to do with her. I do think a decent person would make sure she isn’t eliminated, though. Without blackmailing her.”

“Assuming that I made sure she had enough points, and then I told her to piss off, you wouldn’t see a problem with it?”

“Eh… I see plenty of problems with it. I don’t think that response is unreasonable, though. You aren’t responsible for us being here. At least I don’t think you are. Are you telling me that you would essentially grey rock Heather, beyond the bare minimum needed to keep her from being eliminated?”

“Yes. I told her as such as well. She wants to try to fix things. I told her that it would either be on my terms or not at all. Part of my terms is keeping her locked up, and she agreed.”

Melinda frowned while stroking her chin in consideration. “That does change things. I still think the entire thing is problematic considering your power over us, but as long as you are serious about letting her out whenever she asks, it’s quite different in my books. Also, I’m wondering whether you're just going to lightly grope me all day or actually do something with me?”

“Do you want me to do more?”

Melinda bit her lip in embarrassment, “Yes. I’m really turned on by all your attention so far.”

Zach took her by the hand and led her towards the showers. Melinda followed along without protest. Seeing the showers, Melinda asked, “There’s just the one communal shower?”

“Yep. Same at the pool and in my room. Makes sense if the purpose is for me to walk in on one or more of you showering.”

“Right…” Melinda said exasperatedly.

“Convenient for when we actually want to shower together, though,” Zach smirked as he started to remove his clothes.

Melinda just stared as he pulled his shirt up over his head. He was still covered in sweat. He’s not ripped or anything, but I sort of expected him to have more of a dad bod. I’ve slept with worse.

Zach asked, while taking off his underwear, “Are you going to join me or not? Or do you just like to watch?”

“Um… sure, and if the view is good enough, but I prefer a more hands-on approach.” Melinda then immediately clapped a hand over her mouth. She then muttered, “Stupid honesty compulsion.” She started stripping down in front of Zach and hurried into the shower, not looking at him.

Zach smirked and got under the water with Melinda. He simply closed his eyes and let the water run over his sweaty body. He rotated his head and took a step to remain balanced. When he opened his eyes a moment later, he found Melinda right in front of him, with her back pressed up against him. One arm was wrapped around her waist, and the other was cupping her breast. Zach said, “Okay, I seriously don’t remember grabbing you at all.”

+5 VP Fully Nude for Your Master, You steamy little slut.

“I’ve realized that people don’t even notice that they are groping me at times.”

“Why didn’t you step away?”

Melinda rolled her eyes. “Two reasons.” Melinda pressed her back against his chest more firmly. “One, I thought I made it clear I want more.” Melinda reached behind her with one hand and grabbed his butt. With her other hand, she placed it encouragingly on top of the one Zach was using to fondle her breasts. “Two, I can’t.”

Zach asked, confused, “What do you mean you can’t?”

“It would be a form of protest, apparently, if I pulled away from the groping. I could leave if I had reason to leave in general, but not because I wanted you to stop touching me.”

Zach frowned, “Can you give me an example?”

Melinda nodded, while running her hands on his legs. “Sure. If I were done showering, I could walk away from you even if you were groping me. If you decided to follow me and continue to grope me, I couldn’t stop you. I also couldn’t decide that I’m simply done with the shower because I want you to stop groping me. And before you make the suggestion, as I’ve already thought about it, if you decide that you’d treat anything where I don’t explicitly tell you to continue to mean I don’t want you to continue, I’d be **** to tell you that it’s alright with me even if it wasn’t.”

Zach lowered the hand cupping one of her breasts to rest on her hip. “So you don’t have any bodily autonomy like this?”

Melinda rolled her eyes, turned around, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. Zach’s hands roamed from her hips to her ass and squeezed tightly as they continued to make out. When they parted, “I have plenty of autonomy, just not total. If I wasn’t afraid of Lynn literally trying to **** me, I’d probably let you screw me right now.”

+1 VP Kiss your Master, HEEEEELLLLLOOOO NURSE!

Zach’s eyebrows rose in surprise. They rose further when Melinda started to stroke his dick with her hand, and pulled him into another kiss. Zach grabbed her ass with one hand as the other slid through her hair as he pushed her against the wall of the shower. She wrapped a leg around him for support and as an invitation. An invitation Zach happily took, as his hand wandered from her ass to her pussy. The two let loose as each worked to get the other off. Wordlessly, it had become a competition to see who could get the other to cum first.

A competition Zach lost as he shot his load onto Melinda’s stomach. Melinda came a little while later as Zach continued to rub her clit. Melinda panted as they stopped making out. “I finally beat you.”

+3 VP (x2 First) Handjob, Seriously? You have perfectly good holes to use.
+3 VP (x2 First) Fingered by the Master to Completion, Isn't he so generous getting you off too? With his bad hand to boot.

“When did it become a competition?”

Melinda snorted, “It was always a competition between us. I don’t see why this would be any different.”

“Fine, I concede you’re the champion of beating me.”

“Can’t just let me have a single win, can you?”

“I totally can. Also, what do you mean by a single win?”

“You seriously don’t remember?” Melinda asked incredulously. “I never actually placed higher than you when we competed in archery. Or really anything else we both did.”

“That can’t be right,” Zach said, confused. “Can it?”

“As far as I recall.” Melinda nodded. “I’ve tied but never won.” Melinda then looked down in embarrassment. “It’s why I messed with your bow; I wanted to beat you just once.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll beat me more than once from here on out,” Zach replied with a grin.

Melinda was not amused. “Har har. Now, could we get clean?”

Zach nodded and stopped pressing her up against the wall. The two washed up, with Zach absentmindedly lathering Melinda up with body wash as they went.

As the two dried off, Zach asked, “Were you serious about having sex?”

“Hmm?” Melinda replied, not properly hearing the question.

“Earlier you said if not for Lynn you’d have let me screw you. Were you being serious?”

“Oh, that. Yes. That isn’t an open invitation. I was just really horny then.” Since someone couldn’t stop staring at my tits and ass. Also, the groping. Not that I can actually say that.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Zach replied. “So, anything more to this date?”

“Nothing physical. I’d take you out to eat, but that isn’t really an option. So I’ll be cooking later instead. Otherwise, we can do whatever you’d like.”

The two dressed and made for the elevator, planning on going back to Zach’s suite since they didn’t have any other concrete plans. Right after Zach pressed the button, he pulled Melinda onto his lap as he sat down on the couch. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. The two prepared for a jerky ride, but except for one abrupt turn causing Melinda to shove her breasts into Zach’s face, it was quite smooth.

+1 VP Sit on Master's Lap, Wow acting the good girl... wonder how long that will last

When the elevator came to a stop and they got off, Melinda said, “That’s utter bullshit.”

Zach sighed, “Yes, but it also makes sense. Especially since there is a button for me to press so I can stop the elevator so I can screw you, ladies, on those couches, without interruption.”

As the two entered the room, Zach went straight to the kitchen and brought out a pitcher of lemonade, two glasses, and a tiered tea tray full of snacks. “Want a bite to eat? I know you said you’d cook later, but dinner is still a while off.”

Melinda shrugged, “I could nibble. That lemonade on the other hand…” Melinda took the offered glass and downed it in a couple of seconds. “I’d like another one.”

Zach chuckled as he refilled her glass. He sat down next to her. “So, what have you been up to over the past decade?”

Melinda sipped her drink and eyed Zach curiously. “Could you be more specific? I have to tell you because of your earlier command, but I figure you’d like an answer that would be finished before we went to bed.”

“What are the highlights?”

“Well, after…” Melinda looked guilty again before continuing. “Afterwards, I ended up going pre-med, but for various reasons I didn’t end up trying to become a doctor; instead, I went and became a nurse. Had two serious relationships that didn’t work out. Besides that, I don’t really know what to tell you. Life happened.”

“What did you do for fun?”

Melinda laughed, “You are aware nurses are chronically overworked and underappreciated, right? When I did have free time, I would mostly watch crappy TV dramas. Occasionally, I would get dragged for a night out by some of the other nurses. What about you? What happened with you?”

Zach got sort of gloomy. Melinda realized she stepped on a landmine, but also realized she needed to hear it. Melinda said, “Sorry if you don’t want to talk about it; it’s fine, but I’d like to know.”

“Well, after freshman year, I got really depressed. I withdrew from life besides school. I probably would have dropped out if not for Lynn’s encouragement and support. I was done with things for a good while.” Zach's expression went from gloomy to dreadful, remembering. “I was in constant pain. Pain, I was told I would likely never be free from completely, no matter what the doctors did. I gave up when I got that news.”

Melinda could tell what Zach wasn’t saying. What he didn’t want to say out loud. Her chest tightened, realizing what had likely happened. She had seen it in patients before. “Did… did you try to hurt yourself?”

Zach nodded, “Meds and ****. Got into therapy. Lynn kept me going.” Zach smiled weakly. A smile that turned into a scowl as he continued. “Heather was the one to pull me back into life, though. I got married and went to grad school. Then I became a professor myself. Then Heather stabbed me in the heart by cheating on me. That was about a year ago. I filed for divorce the next day. A divorce that was finalized the day we were all brought here.”

Melinda looked down, utterly ashamed. “I’m surprised you’re even giving me a chance. After all the pain I caused you.”

“I thought about you while watching stuff with Piper yesterday. At first, I wanted to beat the shit out of you. I was furious. As I said earlier, we still aren’t okay, and we might never be okay. I realize, though, that who you were then and are now aren’t really the same. You did something stupid and wrong, and I paid the price for it.”

Melinda wiped her eyes as she was trying not to cry, having learned how bad things had gotten for Zach. “I’m so sorry. God saying that feels so god damn hollow.” Zach put a hand on her back. Melinda asked, “Seriously, how can you give me a chance after all you went through?”

Zach scratched his head, “I don’t know. Maybe I haven’t fully processed things and will get far more upset with you later. Might be because I have already dealt with a lot of my feelings regarding my injury. Might be that I know what it’s like to make stupid fucking choices. I’ve just been lucky enough that those choices haven’t bitten me or anyone else in the ass long term.”

Melinda’s stomach was twisting in knots. She was feeling nauseous. Melinda stood up, breathing heavily. “Where’s the bathroom?” Zach pointed, and Melinda hurried off towards it.

Melinda shut the door behind her, turned on the faucet, and splashed her face with water. I think I’m going to be sick. He tried to… Oh God. Melinda’s stomach couldn’t handle it. I need to get it together. She splashed her face a few more times, rinsed out her mouth, and noticed her toothbrush was here, so she brushed her teeth as well. She rejoined Zach a few minutes later.

Zach asked, “You okay?”

Melinda shook her head. “No. Not even remotely. Thank you for telling me the truth about what you went through.”

Melinda went back to her chair and couldn’t bear to look towards Zach. The two sat in silence for quite some time. Eventually, Melinda couldn’t take the silence anymore. “I don’t understand you. I… I… just… how…?”

Zach just shrugged. “Don’t know. Now I don’t want to stay on this topic all that much. So I can either do something to pass the time with you or by myself, whichever you’d prefer.”

“I… okay. I don’t know how present I’ll be, but I’d like to do stuff with you.”

Zach gave her a nod and proceeded to move towards the couch, and gestured for her to follow him. She did so, sitting next to him without much thought. Zach put on some improv comedy show Melinda wasn’t really familiar with, but figured it was decent enough background noise to distract her from her thoughts. It didn’t work at first, but Zach seemed content to let her process this on her own. Good, he shouldn’t be comforting me about this. Eventually, the show plus Zach’s casual groping pulled her out of her thoughts. Oh, the wandering hands are back. Whatever, I’m certainly not going to complain after learning what I did to him. Melinda scooted closer to him and even helped reposition Zach’s hands onto her breasts, making it clear she was quite alright with his touching of her.

+2 VP Breasts touched, You thought I'd give you points just cause your transformation **** the issue earlier? HA!

She rested her head on his shoulder, closed her eyes, and tried to ignore the hand fondling her breast. By the time dinner rolled around, she was really horny. She ignored her arousal, saying, “I’m going to go start on dinner. Would you like anything while I’m up?”

Zach shook his head. “No. Would you like any help?”

“No. I want to cook for you.”

Melinda went to the kitchen and was glad that Delilah hadn’t lied to her when she opened the fridge and found all the ingredients she needed for her planned meal. This place might be hell, but at least the fridge is awesome. She pulled her hair up into a bun, slipped on an apron, and got to cooking. A good hour and a half later, which was far longer than she had planned, Melinda was done. Well, that could have gone better. I hope it doesn’t taste horrible. Plating the food, she said, “Dinner’s ready.”

Zach got up and joined her at the table, saying, “Smells good.”

“Wait until you taste it before passing judgment. I’m rather rusty in the cooking department.”

The two ate in companionable silence for a while. Zach eventually broke it. “The food is good, thanks for cooking.”

Melinda let out a grunt of appreciation as her own mouth was full at the moment.

Zach asked, “Would anything help get you out of this funk you’re in?”

“Funk? I suppose that’s apt. I don’t really know. I had already felt bad knowing I injured you and learning just how bad things got for you… Well, the guilt is twisting my stomach.”

Zach pondered the situation. “You know, Piper suggested I come up with some sort of way to punish you for both our sakes. I thought about doing that but decided against it. Mostly because I don’t think there is anything I’m willing to do to you that would feel like an adequate punishment, where afterwards I would feel content to move on.”

Melinda just nodded in understanding.

After a long silence, Zach asked, “There is something I wanted to ask you about.” Melinda perked up curiously. “Before, you mentioned not wanting to have sex because of Lynn. I want you to tell me, why?”

“She’s insane, and I think she would definitely retaliate against me for doing so.” Melinda clapped her hands over her mouth, seeing Zach’s frown. Shit shit shit shit! “Zach, please let me explain better.” Zach continued to frown but nodded for her to go on. “First, Lynn has made it abundantly clear that she will come after us if she feels like we wronged you. I’m also starting to think that Delilah’s introduction of her on the first night here wasn’t complete bullshit. She’s clearly more than infatuated with you. When I said she’s insane, that’s my opinion as a nurse. I really think there is something wrong with her head.”

Zach was scowling now. “Why do you think that?”

“The way she talks about you and us. Caroline told me some things she’s heard her say and what Heather claims she’s done before.” Zach rolled his eyes, hearing her bring up Heather. “Zach, I’m not saying I believe everything Heather says. Caroline, on the other hand, I don’t see a reason for her to lie. Lynn thinks we don’t deserve to be here, but not like the rest of us. She thinks we don’t deserve the privilege of being with you. Can you honestly tell me that she hasn’t been acting differently these past few days?”

Zach replied, “This situation is bonkers; of course she’s been acting differently.”

“Zach, I was content to keep my mouth shut about this, but I literally couldn’t because your command to make me answer questions honestly is still going. Since this is out there anyway, I’m telling you she thinks she is essentially in charge of all of us unless you say otherwise. Just think about this.”

Zach frowned, “So you think I should do what exactly?”

“I’m not advocating any course of action. As I said, I was content to let this be. Caroline was planning on bringing this up to you tomorrow, though.”

Zach sighed in disappointment. Damnit. Lynn, what has gotten into you?

Melinda continued, “Zachary, please don’t take this the wrong way. I do not want to try to drive a wedge between you and her. She frightens me, though. It’s why I wanted to make sure she was on my side, because I think she’s a danger to the rest of us.”

“You’d really think she’d hurt you?”

Melinda nodded, “Yes. I think she’d have any of us eliminated if we stepped out of line.” After a moment of silence, Melinda asked, “Could you not tell her that I was the one to tell you all this. I really didn’t want to bring this up; I just couldn’t refuse to answer your questions.”

Zach nodded, “I think I’m just going to head to bed.”

Melinda just nodded, glad that the discussion was over, even if it meant an early end to the evening. Melinda cleaned up the dishes while Zach got changed. She debated what she would wear to bed but ultimately decided not to wear her nurse's outfit. He did say he didn’t want me wearing them. I can live with him being handsy.

Melinda finished her evening routine and joined Zach in bed. He seemed to be sound asleep when she slipped under the covers. It didn’t take long for her transformation to kick in, as Zach’s arm wrapped around her and his hand landed on her breast, with the other one firmly on her ass. Stupid magic. Hopefully, I can get at least a little sleep.