You put your persuasive skills to the test.

"Honestly," you say, looking at your mother with conviction, "I am." Her shoulders sag a little as she realizes you aren't going to back her up on this. "Laura is a grown woman, and she's capable of making her own decisions about this."

Your mom scoffs. "She is not a grown woman, she's eighteen," she retorts, "and for that matter, you aren't a grown man either. I know it seems that way to you, right now, but trust me honey -- you have no idea how much you have to learn."

"Fair enough," you admit, "but eighteen is when we've decided -- as a society, I mean -- that people can make their own decisions about sex."

"Whoa, hang on," your sister interrupts, "I didn't say anything about sex, just about wearing clothes." You shoot a quick, exasperated look at her, one which you hope says that's not helping, and she seems to get the picture, quickly adding, "B-but Sam is right, it's my choice, isn't it?"

"You're forgetting something, young woman," your mom continues, putting her hands on her hips. "You're living in my house, and I get to make the rules, and I'm really not sure about you just walking around naked as a jaybird. What if company comes over? What... what about... that?" She vaguely gestures at your crotch area with her left hand, and you feel your cheeks get hot as you realize you haven't exactly been containing your... excitement... at observing your sister's body. The bulge in the front of your jeans is very noticeable, apparently.

Laura looks at where she's gesturing, and back at her mom. "What about it?" she says innocently. "It's not like I haven't seen that before. Sam is a young guy, mom. You know how they are. He probably gets excited when he hears the word 'titmouse'." Your brow furrows a bit at this teasing, but at the same time you hear your id say hee hee... 'tit', so you concede that she probably has a point and keep quiet.

"He can't help it," your sister continues. "It's just instinct, and it doesn't bug me at all." You nod weakly in assent, still a bit annoyed that your feelings have been boiled down to a handful of chemicals that have evolved over millions of years, but accepting that, yeah, she's basically correct.

"Look, mom," you add, "you have to admit she's got a point. Times and attitudes change, and clothes just don't matter the way they used to."

"That isn't stopping you from wearing them," she points out, eyebrow raised the exact same way that you do, and that stops you for a second. Shit, she got me, you think, and then you have a brilliant idea.

"You know... you're right," you say. "If I'm gonna talk the talk, I should walk the walk." You move your hands to the button of your jeans, ready to unbutton them. Your hands tremble a little; you aren't exactly ready for this, and you hope to god she calls your bluff.

"Nononono that's okay, alright," your mom says, her hands shooting up to cover her eyes. "I... I don't think I'm ready for that yet." Your hands drop to your sides and you sigh inwardly. At the same time, she tentatively uncovers her eyes, lets her own arms fall, and also sighs, defeated. "Fine," she says, "I'll go along with this, as long as we establish a few ground rules."

Laura smiles widely. "Absolutely," she agrees, "what are they?"

"First off, you're going to be fully clothed at the kitchen table." Your sister nods vigorously in agreement. "Second off, you're going to be dressed if we're expecting company, or going out."

"What about if it's just my friends coming over?" she counters.

Your mom shakes her head. "What if they go around telling everybody that you walk around nude at home?"

"Mom, I trust them," she replies, "and even if they did... who cares? I'm not gonna be embarrassed by who I am."

Your mom looks like she's about to object, but stops, obviously wanting to end this whole ordeal. "Okay, fine," she concedes. "As long as they're comfortable with it themselves."

"Well, duh," says Laura.

"Okay. Good. Fine." Your mom looks at you sharply. "As for you..." She swallows. "Laura is hard enough to deal with, but at least she's a woman. I'm not sure I'm ready for..."

You nod and smile. "I understand," you say, relieved. "I'll keep my clothes on."

She visibly relaxes a bit at that. "Okay. Now then... I'd better get dinner started." With that, she briskly walks into the kitchen.

You amble over to the couch, sit down heavily on it, and close your eyes. You're exhausted, the confrontation -- mild as it was -- having left you physically and emotionally drained. You feel a jolt next to you as your sister does the same thing. Your id briefly reminds you that she's totally nude sitting next to you, but at this particular moment you're too tired to care much. You're just glad it's over.

"Thanks for backing me up." You just nod a bit in response, eyes still closed. You're grateful that you were able to help... but, after all, you caused this whole situation in the first place. She's still your sister, with nearly the exact same personality as always, but you've altered her, permanently, to embrace being nude at home. You wonder about the metaphysical ramifications of all of this. Is she still the same person? This was a relatively small change; what if you made a big one? Would the person be the same individual as before? Or have you "rewritten" them? {if smita_mlevel > 0}

Take Smita, for example. She thinks she's your girlfriend now, for god's sake, and it seems like she's awfully freaking jealous. Was she that possessive before you manipulated her? Or have you turned her into some sort of control freak?{endif}You shake your head a little, trying to banish those thoughts from your mind; it's too deep for you to handle at the moment.

Instead, you consider the more concrete consequences of what you've done. "What do you suppose Jenny will think about your new... decision?" you mumble. Jenny has been her best friend for years, the two of them having bonded over their shared artistic talents at an early age.

"I was just thinking about that," Laura replies. "She's very open-minded, so she might be a bit weirded out at first... but I think she'll be okay. You smile. Jenny has an extremely obvious crush on your sister, at least to you, although you're fairly sure Laura is completely oblivious to it. You imagine that Jenny will be quite pleased about Laura's lack of clothing.

The two of you continue to sit there in silence, just breathing. You feel your brain start to get hazy as exhaustion starts to overtake you, and decide to succumb to a short nap right there, before dinner.