Figuring Things Out

Tammy felt like she couldn't breathe as she entered Philip's bedroom. His parents were out, so the fact he had led her there, where there was presently nothing to stop him doing whatever he wanted to her, could only mean one thing, she felt sure. That was quite heartbreaking, as Philip had always been the one out of her coding club friends she thought was the nicest, and also the kind of cute one. But she knew the effect the curse had on guys, and this definitely wasn't how she wanted to lose her virginity. On top of that, she worried about the position she had needlessly put Haley and Kelly in, and even that she had left a fully naked Jessie alone in her house to deal with her parents. She really felt she had screwed things up for everyone with her rash decision.

"Okay, so I did a lot of research last night and it seems the Petersen curse could be a legitimate thing" he began "You said something about my friends and I choosing who to claim among ourselves. So I choose you. But first, I want to try what I believe is the standard test to establish if this thing is real. Tammy, your hair will now turn purple"

Almost immediately, Tammy could see that very thing happening in the bedroom mirror opposite her. She knew the curse was real, and had recently witnessed the very same trick being demonstrated on her Aunt Maisie, but to watch herself being affected by magic was a highly strange and unsettling feeling.

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked nervously.

"Nothing that you need to worry about. You're my friend, Tammy. You've always been very good to me, and I'm fond of you. I want to help you, not harm you. That said, I am going to be completely transparent. I have some very strong urges to do things to you that make me feel quite ashamed of myself. I can see that is the purpose of this thing, and that to some degree I'm also cursed now. I don't want to lose myself to that though, so I will do everything I can to fight those urges"

"Is it better if I leave, so you aren't tempted?" Tammy asked as she folded her arms defensively across her chest.

"I can assure you I'm in control of myself at the moment, Tammy. And I'd like you to stay for a while so we can talk. As I said before, I'd like to help you"

Tammy nodded silently, allowing Philip to keep talking.

"I wonder if we can perhaps use the curse to fight the curse?" he speculated.

"How do you mean?"

"I'm assuming that Craig is your cousin Jessica's master, and the reason for what she did at the party last night was him abusing her curse, albeit drunkenly"

"He's been doing stuff to her when she's sober too" Tammy admitted.

"Right, well I like to think the two of us are a fair bit smarter than Craig, and now I'm able to equip you with powers, up to a point. I understand I couldn't give you hypnotic abilities or anything like that. But maybe I could give you super high level powers of persuasion to talk him out of doing anything further to your cousin"

"Perhaps that could work" Tammy answered "Though Craig is indisposed at the moment, and Jessie will definitely want him to give at least one more command to her once he is back, but we have time to think about it"

"Of course, that was just an off the top of my head idea" Philip agreed.

"So what about Haley and Kelly?" Tammy asked nervously.

"It might be best to warn them they have been claimed. I would think in the next few days Martin and Carl will act on that. Since Martin has a thing for blondes and Carl prefers brunettes, we can probably guess who will get who. But you can blame me. Say the three of us did research on the curse independently, rather than you telling us. There is no need for you to damage relations with your cousins when you were only trying to help them"

"So what do you think they'll do to them?" Tammy couldn't help but wonder.

"Statistically, the chances of three new masters all behaving benignly is almost non existent" Philip had to admit "Also, Martin and Carl don't have the preexisting friendship with your cousins that I did with you. In fact, I think they find Haley a little full of herself and Kelly quite mean. So I would be surprised if they get the same treatment you are"

"Maybe I can be use my persuasion powers, or whatever way we decide to go on this, on them as well?" Tammy suggested hopefully.

"I doubt it" Philip shook his head "Those two not only consider themselves geniuses but they are also highly competitive, particularly with each other, and that will certainly extend to me as well. Part of the reason they haven't approached your cousins yet will be the potential social ramifications of attempting to claim two of the most popular girls in school if this turned out to be a hoax, so they will want to be very sure of it's authenticity first. But I suspect part of it will also be that they want to understand the curse fully, so they can put in all sorts of safeguard commands immediately to stop them from stealing each others girl or whatever"

"Goodness, I don't like the sound of that" Tammy sighed "One against three sounds hard enough as it is"

"I wonder if there is a possibility of taking Craig out of the equation first then making it two against two" Philip spoke cautiously "I may be way off the mark here, but how much do you know about Emily?"

"Emily?" Tammy repeated in surprise "She's lovely, but I don't know much. She hasn't been here long and barely talks about herself"

"Interesting that, her lack of a backstory" Philip arched an eyebrow "From speaking to people who witnessed it, there was something a bit odd about what happened with her and Craig last night. He was shooting his mouth off about having his godawful friends take control of the birthday girls, then Emily walked towards him giving him a final warning, then the next thing anyone knew he was out cold and nobody is quite sure how that happened. It feels like it could have been down to the curse being used to protect you all through Emily. And if that was the case, it would mean she had to have a benevolent master helping her"

"But her master is in England, and he abused her so much she literally came here to escape him" Tammy attempted to explain.

"Maybe" Philip shrugged "Or perhaps that was her cover story. For all we know she might not even be British. I realise I probably sound crazy, but then so does your family curse, and it turns out that is real"

"Okay, maybe I'll ask her a few questions" Tammy decided "Thanks Philip, for being so great about this. You are such a good guy"

Tammy stroked her friends arm affectionately. She normally avoided any kind of gesture like that with guys, since it was so easy for them to get the wrong idea. But she figured he had already proven himself to be trustworthy.

"Don't mention it. In a weird way this is actually pretty cool" he chuckled "Maybe you should go now though. Some of those urges are coming on quite strongly. But I can text you commands, so if you need anything to help you with your enquiries let me know. And maybe you can come over tomorrow and we can talk more. If I, not wanting to sound too crude, see to myself in the bathroom before you arrive, it should lessen any biological urges I might get, for a while at least"

"Oh" Tammy blushed a little as she realised what was being alluded to "Yes, let's do that. I mean I'm not going to do that.....but you know what I mean. I'll come over here. I mean, when I say come.."

"Oh my God your adorable" Philip laughed at the increasingly flustered young woman "You really had better go for now, just let me change your hair colour back. Although it does look very cute on you"

"Sure, thanks" Tammy blushed some more and preened her hair a little while it was restored from purple to it's natural dark brown. She then left before either of them said anything they later regretted.

---

The doorbell rang once more, and Jessie decided there was no way she was answering it. At this point her best plan of action, in her racing mind at least, was to try and hide her naked self from her Aunt and Uncle, at least until Tammy got back from wherever she had gone. Not that her cousin being present would realistically make her plight any easier. There was no third ring, but instead a rattling of keys, so Jessie quickly scurried into the kitchen. It wasn't exactly filled with suitable hiding places for a five foot eight nude woman, but she was less out on the open than she would have been in the living room.

"Tammy? Are you home?"

On hearing only one pair of footsteps entering the house, and her Aunt Holly's voice, Jessie decided it might be her least bad option to reveal herself, quite literally, to her Aunt, who was at least female and aware of the curse.

"Hey Aunt Hoilly" Jessie poked her head and bare shoulders around the kitchen door while the rest of her body remained shielded behind it "Can you come and have a chat with me before Uncle Brett gets back?"

"He's unpacking the car, he'll be about two minutes" Holly warned as she came rushing over, before shutting herself in the kitchen with her naked niece "So your fiance has been having fun with your curse then?"

"Master had way too much to drink at the party last night, made a total ass of himself, did this to me then fell over and wound up in hospital. So it looks like I'm stuck like this for a while" Jessie gestured down at her bare body "Tammy said I could stay with you because of, you know, the whole not wanting to travel anywhere naked thing"

"Of course, you're always welcome here" Holly insisted "But I really don't have a clue how to explain this to your uncle, considering he has no idea about the curse"

"Yeah, I've been running through ideas for that since last night and I've got literally nothing" Jessie conceded, as Brett's footsteps could be heard entering the house.

"Look, it's probably best to just rip the band aid right off with this one" Holly whispered "You'll have to lean into the whole nudity thing. And just follow my lead"

"What? Lean into it?" Jessie attempted to query that wisdom., but it was too late as the kitchen door swung open.

"So If I put the leftover meat in the fridge....Oh, hello Jessie. Should I come back later?" Brett asked. He was embarrassed, but not to nearly the same degree as his niece.

"No, it's fine" Holly rested her hand on Jessie's shoulder "She's going to be here for a few days and she's going to be like this while she is with us"

"Oh" Brett answered, understandably more than a little baffled "Any reason why?"

"I'm just trying something" Jessie tried to **** a smile though the humiliation and shame she was feeling.

"And remember, we mustn't kink shame" Holly cautioned.

"It's not a kink!" Jessie added quickly "It's just, I find things more comfortable this way"

She really didn't.

"And you have to do it here, not at your own home?" Ben was still looking very confused.

"My Dad is just so old fashioned and judgemental!"

"Yes, I suppose he can be something of a fuddy duddy" Brett laughed "Live and let live I say. Though I must warn you, i will have a few guests round over the next few days. It might be a little hard to explain to them why my eighteen year old niece is running naked around the place"

"Oh I'm more happy to go up to Tammy's room when they're here" Jessie insisted.

"But then I feel like I'd be stifling you if you have to hide yourself, and I'm sure they'd love to meet you" Brett pondered for a moment "So where is the harm?"

"Lets' cross that bridge when we come to it" Holly jumped in as she could see her niece becoming increasingly freaked out by all of this "A more immediate thing for us to think about is college tomorrow. But for now, can I get you both a coffee?"