So much happens before they even go in

Pulling into the lot, the line for Haunted House wasn’t as substantial as it normally would be the day before Halloween. As it was a renovated shopping center, the queue was outside and completely unprotected. The storms earlier had driven off the crowd that had been waiting and only the most stalwart or ignorant seemed to return as there was threats of more to come later; Vyki and Lou were not the most stalwart of haunted fans.

Still, there wasn’t up front parking so Lou offered, “would you like me to drop you off while I park? I know stilettos can be ****.”

While these were definitely no sneakers, the idea of standing alone on a curb around these strangers whole waiting for her protective partner was not a comfortable thought. “No, I’m fine. Would rather walk with you.”

Regardless, Lou took one loop through a few rows before deciding on the closet spot possible.

As he placed it in park, Vyki undid her belt and felt the wholly inadequate belt pouch flop around yet again. “okay, this thing is just flipping annoying,” she said as she ripped the pouch of her belt. “You mind if I just leave it here?”

“Um, sure, just don’t leave anything valuable in it. I doubt many thieves would mind take the contents.”

“I’ll have you know I’m the only thief around her, bucko!” Vyki said in a teasing tone as she wagged her manicured talon at him before turning to search through the bag. “Just the med inhaler I can leave, my phone, I’ll carry that with me, annnnnd…. “ Vyki said digging through the contents hearing something else clink around when she finally spots the cut brass key. “The key!!!”

“Those are usually important. Probably shouldn’t leave that.”

Vyki could NOT loose that. “Umm, ya, it’s to my….. gun safe.” Vyki didn’t feel like going into an explication of its true importance. “Could you keep it safe for me? I don’t have a duplicate of it yet.”

“Sure,” Lou responds as he takes it and deftly attaches to his bountiful key ring on an open ring. “Secure and protected with the others.”

“Thanks! You got the card so should be good otherwise.”

Seeing her reach for the door handle, Lou spouts out, “wait!”

Shocked, Vyki pulls her hand back and turns to see Lou hop out of the car. Giggling a little as she sees his coat tails fly as he runs around and opens the door for her. “Gotta let me be a good chauffeur, m’lady,” he says stretching out hand for her to stand up.

Grasping his hand as she stifles a fit of giggles, she plants her foot outside as she stands up next to him, “thank you, kind sir.” As he puts his arm back around her waist as they walk through the lot towards the building, she realizes they never really talked about how to play this out. “Um, you okay posing like the boyfriend again?”

Lou suddenly realized he may have overstepped expecting her to want to maintain the charade and begins to move his hand back, “oh, sorry.”

“No!” Vyki responds a bit too quickly as she feels a separation from him, “it’s okay. I just didn’t want to put you in an uncomfortable situation,” she says looking back at him, “it’s fine. It's kinda nice.”

“K,” he says stepping a bit closer to her and puts his arm back around her.

“Kinda keeps it warmer,” she giggles as she bumps into him before she fumbles with her phone realizing without the pouch, she doesn’t really have anywhere to put it.

Noticing she’s somewhat frustrated with her phone, he asks her, “something wrong?”

“Oh, sorry,” she’s a little embarrassed to see it was that obvious. “Just didn’t think about without that stupid pouch I don’t have anywhere to put my phone, so I guess I’ll be holding it all night.”

“I got plenty of pockets; I could hold it for you,” Lou offers graciously.

Vyki pauses for a moment thinking about how much of a loaded offer that really is. Normally, most people would just let him hold it and then take it back if it rings or need to use it... but she just showed him the app. She then thought about how many times she’d actually used it off and on all night. She hadn’t pushed herself too far, but she had been using it a lot as a crutch. She stopped walking as she continued to ponder this back and forth in her head that seemed to be running slower than normal. Could she really keep her nerves up without it? Should she ask him to use it if needed? Could she trust him with that?

Lou could see how much thought she was having to put into it as she bit her lip after stopping. “I didn’t mean to overstep. If you need it, I could just run back and grab your purse real quick.”

She giggled at him calling that cheap pouch a ‘purse’, but also felt she was being silly about it. He’d hold onto the phone for her and be right there if she needed it. “No, I appreciate it. Just keep it handy if you could. And....” Vyki hesitated but she realized he was safe, kink friendly, and wasn’t Bill; she could trust him. Its not like she’d really need it anyway. “I’m going to leave it on the app unlocked. Just in case you see me losing it or going off the deep end, just tap it real quick.”

Lou carefully took the offered phone and saw the main button, and just couldn’t resist, “you mean like this?” He could see Vyki’s face instant turn to shock before she closed her eyes and bit her lip unable to stop the unexpected moan.

Something about not being the one pressing the buttons seemed to make it more intense to Vyki. She wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. “Something like that,” she confirmed with a giggle.

Normally, being handed a control to a device like this, most sadists she knew would have considered tormenting or at least teasing the subject, yet Vyki for some reason inherently trusted Lou not to **** it. And he seemed to confirm that as he simply slid it in his pocket before offering her his arm again. “shall we?”

She took his arm but paused before she let them continue on. “one thing about the… app….” She cautioned, “I trust you to use it… when it’s needed, but.. don’t let it go over... the top.”

Lou was a little surprised at her fear of him abusing it, chuckled nervously with the reply, “alright.”

Vyki sighed a bit seeming he didn’t fully understand but not able to bring herself to just come out and say it. “what I mean is, if you push me… beyond… _the Edge_... It’s likely I’d become… uncomfortable. So, please, don’t push it that far. ”

Lou seem to finally grasp the importance of not the full reason. “Understood. I’ll refrain from abusing the app.”

Vyki was glad he didn’t press it further and simply said, “Thank you,” and turned to continue walking with Lou arm in arm.

As they continued to walk on, Vyki brought up one other topic before they got in earshot of others. “Thank you again for willing to pose as my… date to help portioning convening cover.”

Lou chuckled, “I doubt it’s really needed for cover, but glad to partner in your disguise if it makes you more comfortable.”

“With that in mind, do your companions normally use a nick name like ‘hun’ or ‘babe’? Is there one you prefer?” Vyki asked trying to think of something to help her into the role since she’s never really done this side of things.

Lou got a little deer in the headlights look as he wasn’t expecting that, “um, just whatever is fine.”

Vyki could tell he was holding something back, “aww, come on, Lou. If I’m gonna play the part, at least give me something to work with. I’m sure there’s something cutesy and fun you loved to hear a girl call you.” Vyki could tell he was keeping it close but she was enjoying prodding him a little; maybe a bit of sadist creeping out. “Let me guess: ‘bae’? ‘boo’? ‘pookie’?” She could tell the cutesy ones were hitting a cord, “‘snookems’? ‘sweetie pie’? ‘sugar’? ‘puddin’?”

Lou could tell she wasn’t going to stop. And while he was sure he would love to hear her say it, he knew it was not something _she_ would be into. But she just kept going on like a little brat, and he felt like it was the best way to shut her up: “Daddy”

Vyki was rambling on and barely caught that he said something until it registered in her brain, but she was sure she misheard it. “Wha?”

“Most of my girls call me ‘Daddy’,” he replied realizing it had the intended effect of stopping her pestering and reminding her not to ask questions she’s not ready to have the answer for. He knew it wasn’t a new concept for her to hear, but he also knew she wouldn’t take the baggage attached to it either. It was fun to watch her squirm now.

“Oh,” Vyki replied knowing she wasn’t really looking to do that. “Um, how about just ‘Lou’?” she asked with a smile.

“’Lou’ is fine,” he replied patting her hand with his own warm smile as if to say, ‘I told you so’.

Finally reaching the ticket counter, Lou paid for admittance for two with Paul’s card and walked over to stand in the queue. Vyki just held onto his arm the whole time with a smile on her face, happy not to have to do anything for once but just enjoy the experience & let Lou take care of things while she followed along.

They got in line behind a young couple dressed as Dorthy and the Scarecrow that had been through an apocalypse. They exchanged pleasantries, complained about the wait, commented on the weather, and then proceeded to their own quiet conversations while the winding snake of people slowly progressed.

Before long a trio of rather scantily clad college girls rolled up behind them. “Gawd! I can’t believe those ass holes bailed on us just cause of a little rain,” the apparent leader in the abrupt nurse's uniform griped loud enough for almost everyone in line to hear while her two companions just dutifully nodded. “Now just have to stand out hear with a bunch old farts,” she continued to bitch as she turned around to her ‘friends’. “Dressing like they wish they were still young and hot even though that ship has long since sailed & they aren’t kids anymore.”

Lou could sense the tension rising in Vyki and moved his arm to wrap protectively around her waist & pull her in close to him. He’d had to deal with too many stuck up bitches to know their words were meant to be daggers but had no real meaning.

“If they wanna do their cosplay sex games, more power to ‘em,” she spouts off trying to sound generous, “but just don’t make us have to see it; have fun and get a room,” she jabs to the titter of her companions.

Lou turned to look at Vyki and could see her jaw tensing up. He was afraid the dimwitted words were about to cause her to lose it and run, so he pulled it in tighter while he reached for her phone to maybe help her remember how hot she was.