it's fun... this time

“So you’ve done this before?” Niko said.

Making conversation took her focus off the fact that she was, oh yeah, completely naked in a public place. Or at least it took her focus of the worrying parts.

It was still a thrill, she just prayed Mel wouldn’t forget how to keep time paused.

“Couple of times,” Mel said. “What? Don’t pretend I’m the only person who’s into it, you’re the one that volunteered.”

Niko coughed. She adjusted her position in her chair again; it wasn’t really self-consciousness, she just wasn’t too used to being naked in a chair like this. Part of her mind kept shouting to remind her that, yep, there were so many people all around her.

She didn’t mind Mel seeing her, for some reason, but she still found herself fidgeting.

“What’ve you done?” Niko said.

“Nothing special,” Mel said. She paused, tilting her head and a sudden glint entering her eyes. “Jada likes it.”

“She knows about…” Niko said.

“She knows I’m a witch, yeah,” Mel said. “We have a bit of a ritual when I stay over. She makes breakfast, but sets up a little picnic outside. I’m only allowed out if I don’t get dressed.”

“Out… on the street?” Niko said. She bit her lip.

“Sometimes,” Mel said. “I mean, not on the ground. Fold-up chairs, or blanket, you know. Sometimes she gets fancy and we have to walk a couple of blocks to a restaurant. Don’t have to pay to get in somewhere nice if everyone’s frozen.”

Niko fidgeted slightly, pressing her legs together at the thought.

“And no one can see?” Niko said. “Wow. Those places must’ve been…”

“Busy, yeah,” Mel said. “Surrounded by people who can’t actually see me, but who still look… it’s intense. Guess you’ve figured that.”

Niko glanced around again. It still felt like she was being seen, all those unblinking eyes staring at her. She shifted again, keeping her legs crossed, ass rubbing against the seat as she squirmed.

“So-” Niko began.

“Nuh-uh,” Mel said quickly. “I doubt you did this just so you could quiz me.”

Niko fidgeted. She hunched forwards slightly, instinct alone making her want to hide her chest. She could feel Mel’s eyes dart down her body.

She flushed.

“Can we just… for a little?” Niko said. “Let me get used to this.”

“We could,” Mel said. “Or how about a deal? I tell you, ooh, how I got into it, and you…”

She paused for a second, eyes glancing over Niko’s bare shoulder to the rest of the bar.

“I want a drink,” Mel said.

“Huh?” Niko said. “What- oh.”

Niko followed Mel’s gaze back, voice faltering as she saw what was behind her. The bar, a bartender frozen in the process of pouring a drink, loose bottles and glasses left out in the open.

Ok, that… was kinda hot actually.

“And if I get you one…” Niko said slowly.

“Story for a show?” Mel said.

Niko flushed deeper. Shaking a little, she nodded.

It still took her a second to get out of her chair. She straightened, for a moment hesitating; her cheeks warmed at the reminder that even if everyone else in the bar was frozen, Mel could see her.

And all she had was crossed arms. Niko swallowed; Mel could see her cunt. Niko quickly dropped her arms, holding both hands over her crotch and flashing her tits to do so.

She wasn’t sure how long she stood there for, unsteady on her feet with everything exposed, only that it was Mel who eventually cleared her throat.

“So, uh, drink?” Mel managed, voice slightly strained.

Niko gave a small yelp and nodded. Right, right, that was the whole reason she’d gotten up.

She turned around, baring her behind to Mel, and started hurrying over to the bar, heart pounding in her chest as she passed stranger after stranger. She made it, panting.

Nervously, Niko glanced back over her shoulder; Mel still had her eyes fixed on her. She faltered, unconsciously crossing one arm over her chest, trembling a little.

Drink. She caught herself, and turned back. Ok, so the glass was…

The empty glasses were on the far side of the bar. She tried reaching for it, coming up way too short; she bent over the bar, reaching for the far shelf, straining and bending forwards.

Not quite far enough. She straightened quickly, cheeks hot.

Yeah, she’d probably have figured that if she was thinking properly. She glanced back, squirming a little still, to see Mel’s eyes still fixed on her.

Well, really, where else was Mel going to look when there was a naked woman contorting herself over the bar? She had kinda invited this with agreeing to go naked. And it was… somehow thrilling and embarrassing in equal measure, at least when everything was frozen.

Taking a deep breath, Niko clambered up onto the bar, and dropped down the other side. There, now the glasses were easy to reach; she picked one, then turned back around to face Niko; she didn’t bother covering her tits then. It felt more comfortable when she was sitting than when she was standing.

It only took a second for her to spot a bottle of Mel’s favourite drink. She reached for it-

And heard sound. For a split second, everything started moving again; Niko gave a sudden, almost deafening shriek and dropped to her knees, crouching behind the bar, cheeks blazing from mortification.

And then it was silent again, the silence of stillness. Well, except for the sound of Mel laughing.

Had she just unfrozen-

While she’d been showing everything-

“Not funny!” Niko yelped.

“Kinda funny,” Mel said. “Hey, get back over here!”

It was a second before Niko stood. She looked out over the bar, arms newly crossed, each hand holding her opposite upper arm and make a vain effort to cover up her chest, half-expecting to find everyone about to start moving.

There were definitely a couple slightly turned towards facing her. Her cheeks burned all the hotter at that.

She poured the drink as quickly as she could, then fell in her effort to climb back over the bar, bare legs flailing behind her. Hastily righting herself, she took a swig from the bottle for her nerves, then hurried back to the table with Mel’s glass, flustered.

She could hear her heart beating, flushed from the journey even if she’d only been seen for a fraction of a second. She swallowed, trying to stop shaking.

God, she really had just done that, hadn’t she? Walked naked through a crowded bar, poured a drink, still naked… And even if everyone was frozen, that didn’t change where she was.

Nor did it change that she’d done it all in front of Mel. Something about that didn’t feel as embarrassing as it should have, and felt all the more wrong for how natural it was.

Mel took the glass, smile playing at her lips.

Fuck, she must have seen everything. Niko squeaked after a second, and quickly slammed her legs shut; something in Mel’s expression changed.

“You got your drink,” Niko said, voice high. “I’m just going to stay here for a bit, and please don’t unfreeze the place again! …And, hey! Where are my clothes?”

She’d left them folded on the table, she was sure of that. Except now the table was bare, with only Mel’s drink on.

“Why, do you need them?” Mel said.

“I will!” Niko said.

“I’ll give them back then, don’t worry,” Mel said. “But it feels better if you know you can’t get dressed right away. Trust me?”

Niko swallowed. She probably shouldn’t trust Mel, she hadn’t known her too long, definitely not long enough to put her modesty entirely in her hands, but…

“S-sure,” Niko said. She fidgeted. “You said you’d talk about…”

“Right, story time,” Mel said. She smiled fondly. “I had… this ex.”

Something in Mel’s voice sounded distant. Niko hesitated; it was odd how a more ordinary conversation could have her almost forget she was naked. Well, not forget, there was no forgetting how the chair felt against her behind, but she found herself acting much more like she would usually.

“You don’t have to,” Niko said softly. “If it’s someone who’s…”

“No, I mean, it’s… a long story,” Mel said. Suddenly she seemed guarded. “I can talk about her. It just ended in a… complicated way. But she and I…”

“Did this?” Niko said. Mel chuckled.

“God, I wish, so much fun stuff we could’ve done,” Mel said. “But no. It was before I became a witch. No powers, no freezing things. We just had little games; no clothes in the house unless my sisters were home, hiding her uniform and badge around the house, sometimes even in the garden, so she had to find and piece it together and run around naked until she’d managed it.”

“Uniform?” Niko said.

Mel’s eyes widened, as though she’d let slip something she shouldn’t have.

“For work, you know,” Mel said quickly. “And then sometimes she’d come visit me at the college, when she could get away. Watch me work at my desk nude, or… we had a game when it got late. Rock-paper-scissors, loser had to run through the campus to our car completely naked. If we tied, we both did. It was… fun. Especially when she was the one who ended up naked.”

Mel’s attention wandered. Niko shifted a little, thinking about Mel’s tale a little too much. She bit her lip. For her part, Mel seemed distracted too, unconsciously crossing her legs.

Something at the back of Niko’s mind prickled at what Mel said, though she couldn’t quite pinpoint why.

“God, that sounds… like a lot,” Niko said. She crossed her arms slightly more tightly.

“It was,” Mel said. After a second she coughed, cleared her throat, clearly caught in reminiscing. “I mean, uh… yeah. It was intense.”

“Did you get caught?”

“I- uh, I-” Mel stammered. “We tried to be smart. It’s fun, but it’s fun to risk it, not to actually be seen by… Thank god for my powers now, that’s all I’ll say.”

Niko raised her eyebrows. Mel looked away.

“Mostly just my sisters,” she said. “Before and after, for that matter. I can’t freeze them, so if they wander past when Jada and I are… it’s been awkward a few times. And before, I was shimmying up the drainpipe into our home. Anyone else I could run like hell from and pray they didn’t recognise either of us.”

Mel’s attention drifted again; Niko couldn’t blame her. Even without memories to draw upon, she liked imagining it. It wasn’t cheating to admit she found Mel cute; that was just having eyes.

Thinking about the witch doing a naked run home with her just-as-naked girlfriend, struggling to get into her home without being exposed to her sisters…

“You- I mean, she did get seen a couple of times,” Mel said. She bit her lip. “After I got powers, we did a few… riskier things. I talked her into it; I could always get away, she sometimes… struggled. Kinda hard to resist.”

“So you don’t just have a thing for being naked in public, you like watching people be caught?” Niko said. She managed to sound accusatory for almost a whole second before dissolving into giggles.

“Sorta, yeah,” Mel said. She glanced around. “How humiliating it must be, watching her get all red, and react, so exposed… I…”

Mel’s attention drifted again, but that time her eyes stayed focused entirely on the nude Niko. Niko squirmed; it was a second before Mel coughed, shaking her head.

“I should… probably go,” Mel said.

“Please tell me you’re going to give me my clothes back first,” Niko said. Mel chuckled.

“Don’t fancy a run home like this? I can keep it paused.”

“I… not this soon,” Niko said. her cheeks warmed; Mel chuckled again.

Mel pulled Niko’s top, pants and underwear out from under where she’d been sitting. She held them on her lip for a few seconds, thoughtfully, then glanced around.

She reached out to offer them to Niko. The moment Niko took them, she heard sound.

Time was no longer paused. Niko yelped, hurriedly pulling her clothes closer and struggling for a frantic few seconds before getting her top over her head. She stared incredulously over at Niko, who just shrugged.

“Couldn’t resist, sorry,” Niko said.

“You- You could’ve warned me!”

“Not as much fun,” Mel said.

Niko fidgeted, still bottomless. At least with her top, anyone looking over at the chair wouldn’t immediately spot bare shoulders, or see her tits over the arm. All anyone could say now was that maybe she had on a really short skirt, leaving her legs bare. Well, anyone who wasn’t Mel with her front row seat to her pussy.

She glanced around again, cheeks hot. Then, quickly, struggled to slip into her pants while emphatically trying to keep seated.

She still had her underwear in hand. Niko glanced around, then, shrugging, pocketed it. She didn’t want to faff around with all that too.

“That was- god,” Niko said.

“You’re the one that brought it up,” Mel said. There was that odd look in her eyes again.

“I know, just… I didn’t expect that,” Niko said.

“Do it again sometime?” Mel said.

“I… yeah,” Niko said. “Look forward to it.”

The Haunt was Mel’s workplace. She was pouring a drink when her girlfriend came up to the bar; Jada was a slightly punky looking witch, her smirk instantly flirtatious when she laid eyes on Mel.

“Hey,” Jada said.

“Hey,” Mel said back.

“Little bird told me you got your ex naked,” Jada said. Mel suddenly faltered.

“I- uh- it wasn’t-”

“Relax,” Jada said, amused. “I’m really not the jealous type. You’ve given me a couple of second chances, I can hardly deny you a bit of fun.”

“Y-yeah, uh, thanks,” Mel said. “It wasn’t really planned. She just suddenly suggested trying out my powers like that, and…”

“She got naked in a bar?” Jada said. “Though, I should probably say I’ve got an ulterior motive.”

“Mm?” Mel said.

“Next time you and her have a night out,” Jada said. “I want an invite, and I’ve got a plan.”