Questions later, Zoey's the problem right now

All questions for later. Pearl’s in flight.

What’s important now is the ass naked hipster clerk named Zoey standing in front of her. If Pearl doesn’t nip this in the bud now, things will go even more crazy than they had already. It’s weird to admit crazy isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but Pearl can only process so much at once.

“‘Scuse me,” says Pearl, brusquely pushing past Zoey on her way to the sink. She makes a point not to look too hard at Zoey’s utterly exposed body.

Pearl takes stock of the damage to her attire. Some sex gunk had rolled down her thigh and stained the top of one of her socks, not to mention the wet spots on her shirt. Damn. No time to waste, then. She shucks her clothes - shirt, shoes, and socks, and starts scrubbing them clean piece by piece in the sink.

Turning to grab some paper towels for her shirt, Pearl almost runs into Zoey standing right beside her. The other, slightly less naked woman (if shoes and socks even count) looks from Pearl’s clothes, to the bundle in her own arms, and back with a mixture of fascination and puzzlement.

A prickle of excitement washes down Pearl’s spine as she realizes she totally just stripped naked with another person watching. Naturally, with her new opinions about on style and presentation, Pearl doesn’t give a fuck what Zoey thinks of her in any way - whether the woman is curious, or judgemental, or just plain confused at what she’s seeing. Pearl’s an adult, she has nothing to hide. This is her body. This was who she was.

Now that Pearl’s naked too, actually, she finds she feels no embarrassment whatsoever. She was naked. Zoey was naked. Great. Where could they go from here? It’s not like things could get more awkward. Everybody was a naked ape under their clothes. So what? If anything, wasn’t wearing clothing the weird thing society made people do?

Zoey briefly surveyed the bathroom.“So what are clothes, anyway?”

“They’re things society makes you put on your body because it likes to pretend we’re not all just animals who walk on their hind legs,” says Pearl, continuing to clean her clothing in the sink. She burns through a great deal of hand soap, hot water, and paper towels in the process.

Zoey listens intently, wide-eyed.

Pearl smacks herself in the head. “Oh fuck. Right. I own your clothes-brain,” she says. “Forget what I said.”

Zoey blinked and forgot.

How did Chase not make a mess of Pearl sooner if it was as easy as speaking without thinking? Chase practically had that down to a science.

Again, Zoey surveys the bathroom. “So, what are clothes?” she suddenly asks. “You said you’d tell me how they work, and why you think they’re a big deal.”

Jesus that’s creepy. And a rush. Is this how it felt for Chase when he was ordering everybody around yesterday at the party? Well, even if it was, Pearl refused to outright excuse his behavior. There were big, obvious lines that shouldn’t be crossed. However you slice it, it’s a jerk move to use BS ownership powers to screw with your friends, for testing purposes or otherwise.

So. Do over. The washing can wait - Zoey requires Pearl’s full attention. She lets out a breath and turns off the sink. Somehow, she needs to put Zoey back together - ideally in a way that doesn’t result in Chase or herself being reported to the cops for acts of public indecency.