All Wrapped Up

You come-to slowly, first noticing a strong warmth across your body. Some of it's deep in your aching muscles, the burn from a hard workout. The rest is surface-level, like from clothing, or a blanket. Yeah, a blanket, you feel it now - smooth cotton, wrapped all around you. Thin, but feels kinda heavy. Wrapped around you a few times, maybe. But why can you feel it against your legs and your back?

You ease open your eyes, feeling unusually tired and sore, and let out a small groan - part tiredness, part... something else. Nose feels stuffy and stingy too. Hope I'm not getting a cold. Probably not. Can still smell the fake lavender smell of the detergent. Plus, I didn't have one... uh, how long have I been asleep?

You're about to sit up when you feel a cool hand rest on your forehead. Well, cool compared to you - probably around normal body temperature for someone not swaddled in a blanket after an intense... whatever that was.

You relax back into the sofa, trying to blink your eyes open, but they're still a bit blurry. You try to raise your hands to clear them, but struggle to do so - something's keeping them tight, crossed over your belly.

"Hey, hey, Karen, it's OK." Natalie speaks, her voice sounding motherly and soothing. "It's OK, I'm here." It's... not entirely, not yet.

"My eyes are fuzzy, I can't-"

"That's OK, I'll get it!" she interjects. She already has a damp cloth by her side, which she brings up to your face. You close your eyes as she dabs at them, putting gentle pressure against them before a small swipe and pulling away. She does this a few times before moving to wipe your face in general. You wait for her to finish before speaking again.

"Couldn't you just untie me? I'm not su-"

"You're not tied up." She interjects, again. "It's just the blank-" She interjects herself with a huff, before wrapping an arm around your shoulders again, the other arm pulling out part of the blanket before letting you down again. She keeps her arm around your shoulders though, giving you a gentle squeeze of a hug. "I just thought you might like it..."

"Oh, I do, I just..." You pause a second, trying to think of something while you dig an your arm out from its comfy prison. "I like being able to move too." As it comes out, you notice a coolness against your breast. You tug the blanket back up as you work your other arm out, leaving the blanket resembling something like a strapless top, preserving some of your modesty, before leaning up a fraction and turning to her, quizzically. "Why am I naked?"

"Your clothes were soaked! I couldn't leave you like that." She doesn't seem at all phased by the question, meeting your gaze with a pleasant smile.

"And who's fault was that?"

"Mine. And that's why I fixed it, they're in the wash now. Plus I gave you my nice blankie."

"That's a little weird, though?"

"And what we've just been doing wasn't weird?"

Well, she's got me there. You sit back again, staring down the length of your body in thought. Natalie gives you another squeeze, seeming to detect your conflict.

"What was it that we were doing?" You turn to Nat, leaning on your elbow as you prop yourself up on your side to face her. "I mean, was that a one-off, or..."

"Well, if you're phrasing it like that, I'd guess not."

"That's not what I meant." You look at her accusatorially, pretty sure that you know what you really meant. "We're..."

"Hot?" You roll your eyes.

"Sisters."

"Exactly, Hot Sisters!" She looks up at you stupidly. You're pretty sure she's deliberately derailing the conversation.

"No, I mean..." You trail off, struggling to find the words to express what you're feeling right now. Natalie grabs your free hand and pulls it towards her, drawing your eyes back to her as she does.

"Look, this changes nothing. You're still my little sister. I'm still here for you, no matter what. Today, I was just here for you... in a different way?" She shrugs as she says so, not unconvinced by her words, but maybe worried by how you'd take them. "If you want to leave it here, then fine. I respect that. But I've seen how you act for a while now, and it seemed to me like you needed to be coaxed out of your shell. And it's not like you didn't have fun, right?" You turn away from Nat, blushing. "I'll take that as a yes." She says, smirking again. You take a moment before replying.

"It's just... what we're doing is ****, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah, by definition, it is. But it's not like I can get you pregnant or anything, is it?" She raises her hands, evidently quite proud of that. "Plus," she says as she leans into you, "doesn't it make it better?" she whispers into your ear, sending shivers down your spine. You try not to show it, badly, as she sits back down. You rest there, sullen for a minute, before talking again.

"How did you know?"

"I had a hunch. You're a bit of a nerd, but in a nice, people-pleasy way. I know you haven't had a boyfriend-" You think of interjecting, but it's true, even if most of your prospects were just awful people "-and might be feeling a bit, y'know, pent up. And I miiiiiigght have co-opted the parental controls on the router to let me know if you searched for anything on my watchlist."

"So you spied on me?"

"In a sense, yes." You roll your eyes again at that, carefully huffing again before continuing - enough that you're expressing your exasperation at her reply, but not so much that you seem fed up.

"Did you plan this?"

Natalie takes a moment before replying. "Kinda. I mean, the TV-" She gesures at the TV with her spare hand. "That ain't me, I'm as bored as you. But..." She looks down at the hand holding yours. "I had been hoping to at least broach the topic with you this summer, what with mum away and all." She looks back up into your eyes again. "Like, nowhere near this much, but with how things went, I can't say I'm disappointed."

You ponder your response for a moment, before coming up with something not worth the pondering. "Huh. So, have you done this before?"

"I'm... not new to the scene. I knew a guy at Uni who was into this stuff - he was... ugh" she seems visibly disgusted, scrunching up her face and shaking her free hand as though trying to dislodge something; A little theatrical, but believable. "But he introduced me to some friends who weren't, and I went from there." You don't feel like pressing the issue. You're filling in the blanks with the 'modelling' stuff she told you about before, probably.

"Did you at least have fun?" You smile down to her, hoping to cut through that slightly dour note.

"What do you think?" She leans back over and hugs you, pressing herself into you. It feels... different. The same, but different. Warm and loving, what you'd come to expect from her. But you notice more. The press of her bra-covered flesh against your blanket-covered form. The microsecond-longer embrace from usual. The press of her fingertips against you as she withdraws. It tells you what you need to know.

"So, what do we do from here?"

"Well for one, you need to shower." She smirks at you again, before continuing. "But... well, if you have any ideas, I'm open to them. And I'll share any I have with you; With a bit better explanation this time." She pauses for a second before continuing, a little less jovial. "This doesn't have to change who we are. But..." She raises her other hand to your face, stroking your cheek. "I think we could have a lot of fun with it."

"I... Ok." You don't want to sound too commital at this stage. But she's right. You did have fun in the end - maybe the ethics of consent should come up before anything else happens, but... well...

"Nice!" She slaps your thigh before standing up, pressing off against the sofa. "Now go shower. Seriously. I'll clean up down here, just leave my blanket by the door."