Finishing a Good Book

Author Note: Apologies for the unexpected break last week, I, unfortunately, got a little busy and didn't have time to edit the chapter ready for publishing. Going forward I'm hoping that there are no more unexpected breaks but of course, I can't promise anything.

Frustration simmered within John as he contemplated internally. ’I need to think of something else; it’s been a little while and I’m still hard. I just can’t get everything out of my head. I know she was flashing me her… drooling pussy… on purpose, but then she goes and has a massive orgasm from Alison touching her neck, does she have some kind of neck fetish or something? Does my neck look good? Wait, what am I thinking.’

Mulling everything over, John was struck with a realisation. ’This is like this morning all over again, it’s infuriating. Wait… have I been acting odd with her since this morning? Why’d I even think that? And if I have been, it’s not been intentional. This morning was frustrating but I’m not exactly mad about it…’

John sighed. ’She wants me to love her. I guess I haven’t had time to think about it though, it doesn’t help that she flirts as hard as Ellie does,’ he thought, humming. ’Well, she’s definitely cute. Her hair is so soft, like fresh powder snow, and her eyes are so pretty. She’s also got a body that would easily fit in with the cheerleaders here at Ashcroft.’

He paused before considering Violet earnestly. ’She makes me feel comfortable. No… that’s not the right word. John pondered a moment, ’Safe! That’s the word, not safe from danger or anything like that but, like, just in general, like that while she’s around, everything will be okay… She’s also pretty reliable too. After all, she came up with the idea for the question game and then she wasted her questions on Dahlia to ask things I should have. I think I should def-’

A light tugging on his jacket pulled John from his thoughts. Looking down he saw Alison holding his arm while pinching his shirt to get his attention.

“Sorry? I spaced out for a minute,” John admitted. Alison giggled at him, which gave him a warm feeling in his chest.

Alison looked up at him with a smile and spoke softly, “V-Violet asked you s-something.”

“Right, yeah, sorry,” John spluttered before turning to Violet. “What’d you say?”

Violet remained curled up, clutching John’s jacket tightly. When he finally acknowledged her presence, she peeked her head out. Her breathing was still relatively heavy, but calming down.

It seemed she’d calmed down enough to plot something as a mischievous Cheshire-like grin spread across her face before asking, “Hey John, mind passing me the thing in your pocket?” Suddenly, John tensed, remembering the scrunched-up panties she’d stashed in his pocket. “I could come over there and get them back myself, but if I did that, I’d have to stand up and strut. All. The. Way. Over. Completely bare. And if I did that, I might have to press my body tightly against you to try and cover myself, just in case.”

Shaking his head, John quickly replied, “No, it’s fine. Just give me a second.” He slid his hand into his pocket, pausing and moving it around, before looking for holes. Glancing down at his other arm, he saw Alison still clinging to him like he was a stuffed animal.

He didn’t want to draw attention and cause Alison to realise what she was hanging onto, so he was slow to move his hand to pat down his other pocket. Unfortunately, there was nothing inside.

“Didn’t misplace it, did you? I specifically asked you to take extra care of it so that they wouldn’t get lost or dirty. After all, they’re delicate.” Violet sat up, pulling John’s jacket around her before looking around the room exaggeratedly. “Maybe you should check Alison’s pockets, just to make sure. It’s fine if John pats you down, right, Alison?”

Looking down at Alison, she was stunned like a deer in headlights. “John can search you, riiight? It’s not like he’ll find anything, riiiiiight?” Violet emphasised, winking very obviously.

Alison tightened her grip on John’s arm and inched closer, nodding in agreement. Violet giggled and remarked, “You’ll have to give him his arm back so he can search you, though. I’m sure he’d be happy to let you go back to hugging him as soon as he’s done.”

The timid girl let out an eep, jumped back, and released John’s arm, her face turning a deep shade of red once again.

John protested, “Come on, Violet, don’t bully her. Besides, why would Alison have them? If they fell out of my pocket, she’d have either given them back to me or put them somewhere safe and let me know.”

Violet insisted, “She’s already agreed to let you search her. Might as well.”

John sighed and looked down at Alison, asking, “Are you sure you’re alright with this? I don’t think she’s going to stop.”

Alison nodded again and replied, “It’s f-fine.”

Raising her arms slightly, Alsion allowed him to pat down her blazer. “Happy now?” John asked in an annoyed tone.

Violet rolled her eyes. “She has more pockets,” she informed him.

“What? No, the skirts don’t have pockets,” John argued.

Nodding, the spirit continued, “No, the skirts don’t, but Alison is wearing shorts under her skirt which do have pockets.”

Huffing, John looked at Alison, holding his hands out. “Can you guide my hands to your shorts pockets? I’m not going to put my hands under your skirt and I don’t know where the pockets are over your skirt.”

Alison hesitated, but then slowly raised her hands, taking John’s in hers before guiding them down to her skirt and placing them on her outer thighs over her skirt.

John patted around trying to be as respectful as possible, then removed his hands and turned to Violet. “Are we done? Or are you going to tell me she has back pockets you want me to check too? Cos that’s not happening, she’s already uncomfortable enough and I’m not going to go further for your amusement.”

“Calm down, sugar tits,” Violet teased before looking at Alison. “It seems that you had better give it to me, before John throws a tantrum.”

John growled and rolled his eyes. “She does-” he started but halted as Alison pulled a scrunched-up piece of fabric from the jacket pocket he just checked.

“Thanks, sweetheart,” Violet said with a smug smile, pointedly looking at John as she took the garment.

John’s attention shifted to the stool where Alison had piled Violet’s clothes. A puff of smoke dissipated above the now empty seat. He looked back at Violet, to find her fully clothed, waving her lacy white underwear for both him and Alison to see.

“Do you think we covered everything, John?” Violet inquired. “You have seen ▹Concealment, ▹Nimble Touch, ▹Sticky Fingers, ▹Insight and ▹Tracking. I think I’d say Alison went above and beyond, wouldn’t you?”

John felt a mix of surprise and confusion as he gazed at Violet, who used a finger to spin her underwear around. His attention shifted to Alison, amazed and shocked that she’d stolen the underwear from him. The pictomancer seemed to have shrunken, with her hands now tucked into her sleeves and her face hidden as she emitted a squeak.

Approaching Alison, John hugged her in an attempt to calm her down. “Fine, I’m impressed, but what did I say about bullying her?”

Violet hummed in thought, drawing it out before replying, “Oh, to not to. But in this case it was for the good of testing out powers.”

John sighed and looked down at Alison, and though he was annoyed, he couldn’t help but smile at the adorable turtle-like state she’d gotten.

In a puff of smoke, Violet’s underwear vanished from her hand and she quickly flipped her skirt to show they had materialised on her body before laughing. “It’s fine. She doesn’t need constant protection. Actually… fine,” Violet said, walking over and embracing both John and Alison. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. It was just a playful joke. On the bright side, you don’t need to show off any more of your survival skills. How about we check out that new class?”

Without revealing her face, Alison nodded, prompting a warm chuckle from Violet. “See, everything’s fine. Alison, why don’t you hold onto John’s arm for me? John, give me your ‘clean everything’ spray, and then grab the book while I tidy up a little,” Violet suggested.

Violet separated from the hug, and Alison gently latched onto John’s arm, hugging it. He pulled out a bath-in-a-bottle from his inventory and tossed it to Violet, before walking over and getting Alison’s skill journal, bringing it to another desk and opening it to the right page.

Soon, Violet joined them, and together they looked at the new section that neither Violet nor Alison had seen yet.

Pictomancy

Current Class Level: 1

Whether a master or a novice, art can almost seem like magic to a mundane person, it can be a portal into a fantastical world, and it can show you your wildest dreams.

▹State of the Art - Level 1:

▹Merge - You can seamlessly combine up to 10 items onto a surface transforming them into nothing but an image.
▹Separate - Recovering items from images is as simple as merging them. With the Separate skill you are also capable of pulling from non-merged images to create objects, this capability is limited to 3 unless you provide materials for the fabrication
▹Adjust - You can Effortlessly manipulate, reposition and reorient merged objects. Materials are required for any modification to an object or image for it to be preserved. Additionally, you can reduce the size of a merged/merging object by up to 1.5x, maintaining the altered state until it is separated once again.

“Oh shit! That’s really fucking cool. We should do some tests, see what the limitations of object merging are. Is it limited by shape or size? Does weight factor in? When you merged your hand into the table, how did it feel? Was it uncomfortable or were you just shocked? Oh, could you use it like my inventory? And can you merge, like, a full backpack into an image? Oh, al-” John’s excitement was interrupted by a light chop to the head.

“Now who’s bullying?” Violet asked. “You’re practically overwhelming her. I know you’re excited but I think Alison could use a little break from magic.” She turned to Alison with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, I’m about to say something that might make you blush again, but if I don’t say something, John won’t even know it’s something that needs to be addressed.”

It wasn’t clear if it was from general meekness or recognition of what Violet might be alluding to, but Alison’s face began reddening and she shrunk slightly.

Facing John, Violet placed her hands on his shoulders. “With Alison’s reaction, I think she’s never had a proper kiss before, or at least not one she counted as a real kiss. You owe her a re-do and while you’re at it, you need to finish the conversation you started before the dragon barrier. Okay byeeeeeee!”

In an instant, Violet vanished into the pendant around John’s neck, leaving both John and Alison stunned and speechless.

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