Teasing out a smile

Entering their bedroom, Jesse was pleased to see Betsy in her usual place: lounging on her bed with nose firmly buried in a book. It was a slice of normality he needed after a long day of emotional turmoil. The young man dropped his skirt to the floor and undid his tie, at last able to feel comfortable in the safety of his shared little womb. Eyes glinted over the top of the book, followed by a cheeky little snicker.

"You're still wearing them!" Betsy chuckled gleefully, staring intently at her best friend's crotchal area. Forgetting what she could possibly be referencing for a moment... The boy suddenly realised he had been wearing a pair of her patterned, cotton panties all day.

For as long as they had lived together, Betsy had handled most of the actual, general maintenance of the room. Doing laundry and laying out clean outfits for each of them every day had just naturally become part of that. Jesse didn't mind… he had always been fairly hopeless at coordinating clothing and wasn't really vain enough to risk upsetting her with refusals. Lately, though, she had taken to playing little tricks like leaving out pairs of her own panties from the day before for him to put on. Forever late for the rush to the school-bus and so used to the trustworthiness of his friend was Jesse, that he'd quite often just slip these on without really noticing …or purposefully do it to bring a smile to her face. The girl really seemed to like the idea of him being sat next to her in class all day dressed in her own, pink-hearted possessions.

"You know… just the fact that you wear skirts would have made people suspect you were a sissy, back in the old days."

She was just trying to cheer him up, he recognised that. Knowing full well what would be playing over in his mind. Always full of little facts about history and how much better things surely were now. He didn't feel better though… and only wore the uniform that had been assigned to him. Some people got skirts, some got trousers. He'd always just assumed it was a height or shape of the legs thing… All uniform was just to make them look smart and… well, uniform, after all. Now he realised it was almost certainly just like the hormones in his food. All this had been decided, years before.

Jesse slipped off the offending panties and chucked them into the laundry basket, closely followed by the white shirt. He and Betsy had no qualms at being naked in each other's presence. The Home was warm in summer, and sleeping in single beds opposite each other for five years meant some things were just unavoidable. He jumped up onto his own, soft mattress and curled up into a ball.

He heard the book being put aside and the creak of her bed-springs. He felt her weight being added to his own. He felt the soft caress of her long, cotton night-shirt embracing him, and knew he couldn't resist the calming effect that had. It was impossible to stay mad at Betsy. She and he had been through so much together. Shared so many secrets across the dead of night. She was the kindest, warmest, wisest soul he had ever encountered… and he valued her far, far more than he valued himself.