Mackenzie tries to fix her clothes and gets a call from Alex

Mackenzie reached the ground floor again and made her way over to the living room. She unceremoniously dumped the combined pile of fabric and supplies on her coffee table and tried to calm her racing heart. The nude woman took a moment to remind herself that she was home, safe from the rest of the world. And more importantly (given her unrelenting clothing troubles) she was out of sight from the rest of the world too! With one hand still holding the flashlight, Mackenzie used her free hand to spread everything out and examine her new acquisitions.

Before her lay a pink miniskirt and a navy blue bikini top. The skirt, she remembered, was fully functional and fit Mackenzie perfectly well. The waistband clung tightly to her waist, but the rest of it was ever so slightly loose and flowing. The only reason she tended never to wear it was... well, it was rather short after all, barely coming down to mid-thigh. Likewise, the bikini top had similarly never failed Mackenzie. She'd worn it to the beach last summer, although she remembered being afraid of potential nip slips with the skimpy top. But, the top had stayed perfectly in place all day without a single issue, much to Mackenzie's pleasant surprise. If only the matching bikini bottoms hadn't been lost to the sea that day...

Next, Mackenzie examined the damaged clothes beside them. The tank top with its ruined straps, the shorts missing their drawstring, and the thong ripped nearly in two. How long had it been since she put those three things on? 10 minutes? 15 at the most? Mackenzie couldn't help but sigh as she realized that her clumsiness had ruined her entire outfit in seemingly record time. But, with few other options, Mackenzie figured she'd try and at least fix the tank top and shorts if she could, even if the thong was a lost cause. That would at least give her something to wear while taking the basement door off its hinges. She wasn't exactly keen on trying to complete the task in just a miniskirt and bikini top.

But first, she thought, maybe another beer.

One open bottle and a few hearty swigs later, Mackenzie was ready to get to work. She grabbed the roll of string and the scissors, ready to fashion herself a new makeshift drawstring for the shorts. Then, it suddenly hit her. She was still standing there naked! Mackenzie couldn't help but chuckle at that, given that she'd set aside her last two intact pieces of clothing and neglected to even put them on! Maybe she was just getting used to wearing nothing at all.

"I sure hope I'm not!" Mackenzie chuckled to herself as she took another sip of her drink. But, just as she picked up the miniskirt, Mackenzie's phone lit up and began vibrating on the table. She glanced down at the bright screen and saw that Alex was calling her! For a brief moment, Mackenzie's mind went into panic mode.

I can't talk to him like this! I'm NAKED! What would he... Then her mind made the additional connection she'd been missing. Idiot... It's just a phone call!

Shaking her head at her own stupidity, Mackenzie grabbed and answered her phone.

"H-hello?" she said, trying and failing to keep a degree of nervousness out of her voice.

"Uh, hey Mackenzie," Alex's deep yet familiar voice came from the other end of the line. He, too, was trying to come off as calm and collected (which wasn't easy given what he'd just seen of his neighbor). "Just, um, wanted to see how you were holding up with the power out."

"Hi Alex!" Mackenzie chirped, feeling genuinely touched. "That's, um, really nice of you. I'm fine, though. I've got a flashlight and just found some spare cl-" Mackenzie caught herself before she could say finish the word 'clothes,' not wanting to let Alex in on the embarrassing misfortunes she'd been suffering.

"Batteries!" she quickly finished. "Found some spare batteries. For the flashlight. To power it."

"Oh, uh, good thinking," Alex agreed. He'd noticed the sudden anxiousness in Mackenzie's tone, but with her out of sight he wasn't sure what exactly had caused it. He wasn't exactly sure what to say either, so he just let his brain continue the conversation on auto-pilot. "It's, uh, always good to have extras. I'd hate to run out at a time like this!"

"R-right..." Mackenzie muttered, looking down at her scant few remaining clothes. She gulped. "Wouldn't want that..."

"The more backups the better," Alex said, continuing to ramble a bit, not sure what else to say. "Never know when one might," he made a short razzberry sound with his lips, "go kaput on you."

He gave an awkward chuckle after the comment, but Mackenzie failed to notice. She was too busy looking at the damaged tank top, shorts, and even thong in front of her. How right her friend and crush was. It seemed like an awful lot of things were going kaput on her lately...

"Mhm," was all she managed to say, her mind still reliving her earlier wardrobe malfunctions.

"Boy, that would really suck in a blackout like this, wouldn't it?" Alex continued his nervous ramble. Despite his brain trying to get his mouth to stop, he wasn't seeming to have much success. He just continued saying whatever came to mind to his crush, "Imagine each one giving out on you, one by one, until there's nothing left!"

"Y-yeah..." Mackenzie mumbled, already imagining losing her remaining clothes, one by one, leaving her with absolutely nothing for cover. "Til there's nothing left..." she idly repeated in a soft tone. Her hands reflexively moved to cover herself. With her phone cradled in her shoulder, Mackenzie's hands adopted their not-unfamiliar positions. Left rising up her chest, doing its best to contain and conceal her big breasts. Right gliding down her stomach, stopping only when it was low enough to shield her exposed womanhood.

"Then you'd just be stuck. In the dark..." Alex trailed off, finally stopping himself from saying anything further.

"Stuck," Mackenzie repeated again, her fear causing her voice to come out soft and trembling. "...naked..."

A loud boom of thunder echoed through the house just as Mackenzie had been saying that last word, mercifully keeping Alex from hearing it.

"Sorry, what was that?" he asked.

The loud noise had snapped Mackenzie out of her pessimistic reverie, however. She brought herself back to the present moment and tried to immediately change the subject.

"Wow, that's uh, some storm huh!"

"Oh, yeah, it's really raging out there! I didn't realize the storm was supposed to get this bad."

"Seriously!" Mackenzie agreed as she began to pull the miniskirt on. "Guess there's not much to do but sit tight and wait for it to pass..."

"Mm," Alex agreed. "A good afternoon to grab a beer and watch the rain pouring outside I guess." He thought he could faintly hear the sound of fabric rustling against skin over the line. Was Mackenzie only getting dressed just now? He'd seen her sprint out of her bedroom in the nude nearly five full minutes ago. Had she just been... naked that whole time? Alex couldn't help but feel his own pulse picking up a bit. And his pants feeling a little bit tighter...

"One step ahead of you," Mackenzie said as she picked up her bottle again. "I'm already on beer number 2!" She gave a short laugh and took a few more sips.

"Oh, you work fast!" Alex chuckled back. "Guess I've, uh, got some catching up to do..."

"If you feel like it," Mackenzie giggled slightly. She began trying to pull the bikini top into place, but it was a bit awkward with her shoulder pressed against her cheek. "I just know I certainly needed a beer after the day I had today!"

"Oh yeah?"

"It was... kind of a rough day today," Mackenzie reluctantly admitted. She tried holding her phone in one hand and using the other to drape the bikini string over her free shoulder.

"What, um, happened?" Alex asked hesitantly. Did this have anything to do with Mackenzie's naked displays after getting home?

"I'd... rather not get into all of it. It was kind of embarrassing actually," Mackenzie admitted with another round of giggles.

"That's totally fine!" Alex immediately began backpedaling, though he was now intensely curious. "No need to get into it!"

"All I'll say is..." Mackenzie said, the **** loosening her tongue ever so slightly. The knot she'd been trying to tie came undone, though, and her bikini top came apart completely. "...it REALLY feels like I can't catch a break today!" Despite her repeated clothing problems, Mackenzie couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the sight of her own boobs being bared as the bikini slipped away.

"Well then," Alex said, feeling at least a bit better upon hearing Mackenzie laughing about the situation, "here's hoping tomorrow is better."

"After today, I don't think it's possible for it to be anything but!" Mackenzie joked. She grabbed the fallen bikini and was preparing to attempt to fasten it in place again, but the job was going to be much easier if she had both hands free. Not to mention the repairs she wanted to do on her other clothes... "Um, hey Alex, do you mind if I put you on speaker?"

"Uh, no. Not at all."

"Great," Mackenzie replied. Then, she set both her phone and flashlight down on her TV stand. She propped the device up on a remote and faced the beam of the flashlight into the rest of her living room, illuminating her coffee table and couch behind it. That way, she'd have a bit of light to work with and wouldn't have to hold the flashlight at all. The topless redhead set her phone beside the flashlight and hit the speakerphone icon.

Or at least, she meant to hit the speakerphone icon. In the dark, Mackenzie had accidentally touched the video call button instead.

Alex was understandably a bit surprised when he saw his own phone pop up the message "Incoming Video Call" with both Accept and Decline buttons beneath it. He was confused, but figured that he'd maybe misheard Mackenzie. Alex hastily turned on his electric lantern, lighting up the room fairly well, and aimed the phone at his face. Then, he hit Accept.

A moment later he was looking at Mackenzie standing several feet back from her phone. She was standing in her living room, illuminated by a flashlight beside the phone. And, although she wasn't naked this time, she certainly wasn't wearing much! Mackenzie was wearing a very short skirt, shorter than any he'd ever seen her in before, and was finishing up tying on a bikini top. She gave the bathing suit a few tantalizing test tugs, sending her round breasts jiggling ever so slightly. Then she gave herself a nod and continued looking over her miniscule outfit.

"Can you hear me alright?" she asked, not even looking at the camera.

Alex didn't know what to say! He was well aware that Mackenzie hadn't been showing off to him before. Her nudity in the window clearly hadn't been intentional (either time). But now... was she showing off for him? He did have to admit that she looked drop dead gorgeous in the outfit. Though, he had trouble imagining Mackenzie actually wearing it out in public anywhere!

"Y-yeah..." he replied, clearly distracted. "Loud and clear..."

"Great," she said as she reached for her beer and took another sip. She continued talking, not glancing at the camera once, even as Alex frantically waved his wand at the camera, "This will be easier if I've got both hands free."

"Mackenzie..." Alex began, unsure if he should say anything. She had been the one to initiate the video call, after all. And yet... she was acting like she was still on just a phone call. Did she even know he could see her right now?

"Hm?" she asked. This time she did look back at the camera, but not directly. Only in its general direction. She quickly squinted and looked away. She had placed the phone right next to her flashlight, so trying to see its screen was next to impossible in the bright beam of light. "What's up?"

"Uh... nothing..." Alex mumbled. He wasn't sure how to say that he could see her at that moment. He wasn't even sure if he should say anything at all! Instead, Alex simply decided to simply continue the conversation normally, not wanting his friend to feel even more embarrassed.

Mackenzie, it seemed, was completely unaware that she was now on a video call with Alex.