In Other Words (M,L)

“Before we head back, do you mind if I ask you something?” Luna asked.

Maeve made eye contact with her, putting a hand to her own chin as she offered a reassuring smile. “You can ask me anything. How can I help?”

Luna swallowed, trying to decide how to start. “Have I explained already what my transformation does?”

“You briefly explained it to Aubrey and I a few days ago.”

“Right. My arousal, my libido, is synced to his now. Every time one of us appeals to him, every time one of us does something sexual with him, I feel it too. I’ve been trying to take care of it myself, but I would prefer to be with someone else if I could.”

Maeve didn’t respond.

“Aubrey, Ava, Felicia, Stella, Hazel, they’re all straight. I could ask Helena, but she’s never been fond of me. I wanted to ask if that’s something you’d be interested in. If you’re straight, or if you’re just not interested, I want to make you know it’s alright to say no.” She waited for the older woman to answer.

Maeve tried to choose her words carefully. “Luna, you are very pretty.”

Luna could sense the but coming with the compliment. “I’m sorry I asked. You can forget the question.”

The silver-haired woman lightly shook her head. “I’m not trying to turn you down. But I don’t think I can handle a relationship right now either.”

“Because you’re still getting a handle on the island?”

“No, because I haven’t started to get a handle on things. I don’t know how I feel about most of what’s happened this week. When I think about anything that’s happened this week I could tell you what I’ve done, but so much of it feels sterile. Other than my time with Aubrey, I don’t know how I feel about any of this.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s something I’ve struggled with for years. I need to be stable, at least until I make sure everyone else is.”

Luna remembered her asking for help when she’d made her peace with Aubrey.

Maeve continued her voice oddly flat. “Stella obviously needs help. I can’t **** her to accept it, but she needs more than using the kitchens as a coping mechanism. Aubrey… She's asking for help, which is good. But she’s latched onto me in a way I’m worried about. I’ll be there for her as she needs me, but she cares too much about what I think. I’m hoping that she might rely on me less if she’s able to become friends with you and the others.

"Richard, he wouldn’t tell me everything but his sense of responsibility is getting worse again. If anything bad happens to any of us, he’s going to consider it his fault. You know he still blames himself for the accident. He’d been doing so well with me on that the past couple years, but ever since the first night I keep seeing it show up again.

"And Helena is going to keep escalating until she feels like they’re safe. She tried to claim that she’s fine, but just in the first time I met her this week I could see that the accident is affecting her as much as it ever has him. They all need time, a pause from the show where they can work through things, but that’s just not possible.

"I feel like maybe I should scream, or cry, or do something. I’m here because I'm supposed to fall in love with one of my patients. I should feel something about that. I know it’s bad, that it would betray my responsibility and present massive conflicts of interest. I’m worried about it, sure, but I should have a more visceral reaction that I haven’t felt. I wish I had the space to figure out what I should feel.”

Maeve took a breath, done with her monologue. That was deeply unprofessional of me. “That was more than I should have said.”

Aubrey was the only surprising one there. Luna shook her head. “Given the problem, I think some oversharing doesn’t hurt. Let’s just set my question down. How do you deal with this normally? You’d have even more people that need you, right?”

Dr.Petrov explained. “I’ve built up channels over time. I try to leave things at the office. I have my own therapist I see every other Tuesday to help with things that stick with me. I’ve found a few good self-care strategies too. A good mystery book, the occasional glass of wine. I even give myself a two week sabbatical each year. But people need help here, and I don’t have an office to leave things at. I can’t take breaks to figure out what I should be feeling.”

“Yes, you can.” Luna looked towards the sales counter, where Ata had been humming through their conversation. “Ata?”

The shopkeeper popped back into position. “What’s up?”

“I’d like to buy a library. Can you make it look like Fillmore Hall?” Fillmore was the law library she and Richard had spent most of law school in.

“One Fillmore, coming up! How accurate do you want it to be?” The dark blonde asked.

“Would you be able to add some alcoves for privacy, maybe some soundproofing?”

“Sure! If you spend a third Bonus Point, then I can add an enchantment that makes it so you can only hear sound in the same room you’re in.”

“Deal.”

“Luna, what are you doing?” Maeve asked.

“Getting you somewhere to read.”

“You don’t need to. I’m going to consider your question.”

“Sure, but that’s not why I’m doing this.” Maeve thought she heard frustration in the voice of the Latina who’d become her closest friend. “You’ve got a lot to think about, so go ahead and put that at the back of the line. If having a Detective Doyle novel helps vent the pressure, then we can do that. I’m pretty sure most of us like to read too.”

Ata showed them both a little sketch she’d drawn up of the floor plan for the same general shape of Fillmore hall, altered to include hideaways where someone, or maybe even two people, could go for some privacy. She’d added a few apples to the sketch, but Luna chalked it up to the shopkeeper’s ditziness and distractibility. “I’ve got you a building, and you can choose what kind of books are in it!”

“Mystery.” Luna answered immediately. “History for Dick, romance for Stella. Fantasy for him, Felicia, and Ava?”

“Nothing for you?” Maeve quietly asked her.

“I like all genres. Anything else you can think of?”

Maeve thought for a moment, her mind going to what Aubrey had told her the day before. “Would it be possible to have foreign language translations throughout the library?”

“Sure, we can use one of your slots for that. What’s the last one?”

Luna and Maeve exchanged a glance. Neither of them had anything else to add, but they were both cognizant that they’d done nothing for Helena or Hazel. They both wanted to do it to be fair, but neither of them knew the businesswoman or the bodyguard well enough to pick something.

“Ata, would it be possible to delay making the last choice?” Maeve asked.

The shopkeeper thought for a moment, then spun backwards and grabbed a wide yellow ribbon off of one of the shelves behind her. The words Floating Genre wrote themselves across the ribbon in flowery letters. “If either of you want to hold onto this, it can be used as a coupon for the last genre.” After she held it out a moment, Maeve accepted it from her. “One more thing. Genet wanted to offer a shelf on world mythology if anyone bought a library or a bookstore. Does that sound alright?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Luna didn’t really care, but she didn’t see any harm in indulging the host either.

“Then it’ll all be ready for you by the time you get to the meadow. Let me know if you want to use the coupon to get any smut!” She waved the two of them out and they started their walk to find the library that Luna had just purchased.

As they retreated from the tower, Luna decided to broach the topic Maeve had mentioned earlier. “You said you were worried about Helena taking bigger risks?”

“I… I shouldn’t have said that, but yes.” Maeve looked disappointed in herself that she’d accidentally let that leak out of her.

“She did.”

The disappointment was wiped away as Dr.Petrov refocused. “That’s what Richard was stressed about?” She asked calmly.

“Yes. She got herself into some trouble, but we figured out a plan to bail her out. A few plans technically. I’m mentioning it because they might need me to step away and help.”

“I see. Is there anything I can do?”

“No, and you don’t need to think about that. This is your one day where you’re not supposed to worry about anyone. You’ll find one of Sherlock Holmes’ books and let yourself rest.”

“Is there anything you’re hoping to find?” Maeve asked, trying to step out of Dr.Petrov with Luna's encouragement.

“I’m not sure yet. Since you read a lot of mysteries, is there anything you’d recommend?”

***

They arrived at the library, and it was mostly like how she remembered. A beige carpet ran down the floor. It was worn in places, despite the fact that the building itself was only about an hour old. Dark oak shelves divided the space, less orderly than the original. The shelves created unnecessary turns and corners, little places where one could find a quiet space to themselves if Ata’s promise about the soundproofing enchantment had been true. Signs pointed out each section of the library, and the two women found their way to the mystery section.

Maeve came in first, recognizing many of the titles. As Luna was trying to orient herself, the silver haired woman scanned through the shelves and found both the books that she’d been hoping to find.

“Here is the one I’d been telling you about. The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelynn Hardcastle. It’s mostly a mystery, with some historical drama and science fiction added in. Let me know what you think.” She handed Luna the black book with the art deco framing on the cover.

“What did you pick out for yourself?”

Maeve showed her a book that she’d heard of before, but never read.

“A lesson in Lavender?”

Maeve smiled. “It’s one of my favorites.”

“I’ve never liked rereading.” Luna commented. “You already know all the twists.”

“Sure, but that predictability can be stabilizing sometimes.” The therapist countered, still smiling.

They found places to read in on opposite sides of the room. There was a single chair, which Maeve insisted on giving up. The older woman had instead to lean against the wall with her book on one of the higher tables.

Maeve had settled into her book and Luna was on page four when the latina was swept up in an involuntary moan. “Mmmfffp!”

Maeve raised an eyebrow, surprised but not disturbed by the brunette suddenly panting in front of her. “Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah. Touch Base is working again, hopefully I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

She stumbled her way out of the mystery room and found a seat in the romance section. She peeled off her panties and took a deep breath, hoping that Ata’s pitch for the soundproofing had been accurate. She let her mind drift as she touched herself.

As she let her fingers explore her nethers, her lust wanted to start by thinking about Dick. She recognized that yesterday’s exhilaration with him in bed had been heavily assisted by her own transformation, but oh. That’s it. She gasped as she gently stroked with two fingers inside of herself.

At this point she almost wanted another transformation, something she could use to experiment in bed with him further. Maybe something that would let her keep going. Three was great, more than enough. She could count on one hand the number of times she’d been able to cum three times without a toy. But now, carried along in the current of whatever he was doing, she wanted more. More of him, more of the island, more of him touching her and more of her best friend’s dick, pumping inside of her. “I’m trying to hold back.” he'd said yesterday. He’d been trying to make sure she enjoyed herself, and then the noises he’d made when he let go. Oh. She moaned like he had as her other hand made its way to her left breast.

They hadn’t needed her help. Whatever they were doing, he was hard enough to **** her into overdrive. What were they doing? At a more conscious level she knew that Hel wouldn’t be going too far, but she wanted to imagine how far Helena could go. How far Helena might go with her. She was always so domineering, confident and ready to give orders to her thousands of underlings. What if it was her mauling Luna’s chest? As she tweaked and pulled her nipple, she imagined the bossy redhead pinning her down, tying her arms and legs to the chair and spreading her out. Getting her ready for Dick.

Getting her ready for Maeve.

Maeve was right around the corner.

She almost wanted the therapist to hear her, have her be curious and peek in. If Maeve decided to say yes...

“Please!” She begged the empty room. She tried to imagine Maeve standing over her. Maeve getting on her knees to taste her. Maeve stabilizing her with her arms and her voice. Maeve finishing her off, sucking on and licking Luna’s clit.

"Fuck!" She screamed as she brought herself to orgasm. After that she just sat there, letting it wash over her and retreat like the tide. I’m going to be in so much trouble if Ata’s soundproofing failed.

She found the bathroom and cleaned herself up. Her panties were too damp to put back on. Hopefully if I’m careful with my dress, she won’t notice. She went back to the mystery genre’s room, where Maeve had been quietly reading the whole time. The older woman slipped a bookmark in A Lesson in Lavender and after brushing some of her silvery hair back, offered another one of her warm smiles. "Feeling better?" She asked.

"Much. Thanks for not being uncomfortable with that."

"You don't need to apologize for something you can't control. About your question earlier-"

"You can say no." Luna interrupted her. She never would've asked if she'd realized how much else was on the therapist's mind.

"I know that. You don't need to apologize for the question either, I can handle it. What I'd been trying to say was that I've been thinking about your question . I do... like women, though I've never been with one. I've only had one relationship before, with my ex-husband. With more time to figure myself out, I think I might want to explore something with you.

"In other words: yes, but not yet."