Before Sunrise

Sarah had woken up at 5:00 AM again, much to the distaste of her roommate.

She didn't necessarily need the whole hour before curfew ended to get ready, but she figured she might as well keep up the habit. Bailey had come in late and tipsy again last night. Sarah hadn't seen her all day, but considering she was half-asleep when Bailey stumbled in she didn't exactly try to find out how her roommate had spent her time. The grumbling from under the pillow this morning was a little louder then yesterday, despite Sarah's efforts to be as non-disruptive as possible.

Now Sarah stood in the shower thinking. It was her “date” day with Robert and she was struggling with how to best proceed. On one hand, she absolutely despised everything this show stood for. Dragging people here against their will and subjecting them to horrifying transformations? Telling six women their entire lives now revolved around one man? It flew in the face of everything she stood for back in the real world, and that was to say nothing of her own transformation. She was more then just her womb, a point she had felt **** to make quite clear to a few men before. Did she want children? Certainly, one day. That had been true even before the show. But she wanted to do it on her own terms when the time was right. But she also knew that at thirty-four, time was not on her side. That thought had been growing increasingly loud since yesterday, but besides that the effects of her change had been rather mild compared to some of the others. Sarah suspected that would probably be different once she was in closer proximity to Robert.

Much as Sarah hated to admit it, Robin had had a point when she said that they didn't know enough to effectively fight their Host and her “show.” Sarah had desperately wanted to push back against Ava immediately after the premiere. It was obvious that the Host was rattled and on shaky ground then, and Sarah had hoped to hit fast and hit hard while Ava was already off balance. But that would have required a unified effort from all the women, and it quickly became apparent there wasn't the appetite for that among the others. Sarah had been disappointed, but dwelling on it wouldn't help. She had to keep moving forward.

So Sarah resigned herself to play the game for now. At least Robert West didn't seem to be a complete boor. Despite working at the same company as the man, Sarah knew precious little about him. As a department head at their company, she rarely crossed paths with the junior agent, even more so since they worked in different departments. As she finished her shower and began to towel off, she wondered how best to approach making a good first impression. But then it dawned on her that she had already made a first impression.

Sarah might not know much about Robert, but he probably thought he knew plenty about her. As one of the five department heads at IGI Talent she was fairly infamous throughout the building. She groaned to herself as she thought about the professional but hard-nosed reputation she had built over her years with the company. Even though Robert didn't report to her, surely he had heard stories about her, and he was more then likely familiar with the crass and misogynistic nicknames some of the men of the company had bestowed upon her. Her struggle wasn't going to be creating a good first impression; it was changing the one Robert likely already had.

She moved from the bathroom to her wardrobe closet. She was pleased that Ava had seemingly brought all of her clothes, though Sarah had needed to rearrange it all to her liking. She stood in the closet, her eyes roaming the racks, thinking. She needed to do something drastic, something that showed Robert (and the audience) that she wasn’t just the stuck-up supervisor from work. Struck by a sudden idea, she dug way in the back of of her drawers. She had seen the outfit the other day while rearranging her clothes and stuck it out of the way. She hadn’t worn it in years, certainly not since moving to Los Angeles. If it didn’t get Robert’s attention, then his attention wasn’t worth having.

******

Robin's night had been a living hell.

Chloe had fallen asleep nestled up against her, almost immediately after they had brought one another to orgasm. Robin herself had begun to doze off until the sun finally set and her transformation kicked in.

Robin's entire body had tensed as Queen of the Night activated for the second time. Her hand clenched the bed sheet as all her senses were once again heightened and overwhelmed. The sheets suddenly felt heavy and suffocating. She was intensely aware of the pounding of her heart in her ears, and the dark room seemed as bright as day. However, the most acute sensation was the smell of sex. Wafting up from beneath the covers it assaulted her nostrils. Amid the flood, she discovered that she could actually differentiate between Chloe’s and her own scent. Chloe had a gentle, slightly sweet smell to her, while Robin’s own sex was strong and pungent.

Robin had thought about waking Chloe up, either so she could escape the bed or to ask for her help, but she talked herself out of it. The poor girl had already gone through enough tonight. Instead, Robin tried to focus and center her thoughts on one or two particular sensations. Focusing on Chloe’s words and her touch had helped Robin deal with the sensory overload the night before. Hopefully she could do something similar this time.

Of course there where no words tonight, so Robin tried to focus on Chloe’s touch. It wasn’t difficult. The petite blond had fallen asleep naked and had never really untangled herself from Robin after they had finished fingering one another. Robin concentrated on the feeling of Chloe’s small, smooth thighs pressed up against her own creamy-white bare legs. Robin found herself shifting her legs, just to feel the sensation of her roommate’s legs rubbing against her. It was a pleasant sensation, almost too pleasant. Robin frowned as she could feel (and smell) her own sex growing damp with arousal again.

Robin had experimented with women a few times during her college goth years, but it never really “stuck.” Sure the experiences had been pleasurable, but there never really seemed to be a deeper connection beyond the purely physical. Not that her dating life with men had gone much better.

Robin had felt obligated to help Chloe largely because it was her fault the poor girl's transformation had been triggered in the first place. With how on edge the blonde had already been, Robin thought that relieving her roommate would be fairly mechanical. However, when Chloe's fingers had hooked up in and around her channel, the whole act had become much more intimate then Robin had been banking on.

Robin somehow managed to make it through the night by focusing on the feeling of Chloe pressed up against her. Initially she also had to count her own heartbeats to keep her mind busy, but as the hours stretched into the early morning, she found herself increasingly able to tune that particular sound out. Still, she was much too keyed up to sleep, and she was wide awake when the first rays of sunlight begin to creep in through her window and her transformation finally went dormant again. Only then was she able to fully fall asleep.

Robin had been sleeping too deeply to feel Chloe get up, but she was awakened by the petite blonde sliding back onto the bed.

“Hey,” she said gently.

It was all Robin could do to squint up at her roommate. Chloe was sitting on the bed beside her, her knees drawn up under her. She was looking down at Robin with a soft smile.

Robin groaned and squeezed her eyes shut against the searing morning light streaming in their windows.

“What?” she grumbled. It came out a little harsher then she intended, but she wasn't sure she cared.

“I...I just wanted to thank you for last night. You didn't have to do that.”

Robin pulled the bed covers up over her head to block out the light.

“I kinda did,” her muffled voice drifted out from under the comforter. “I was the one that set you up...”

“Still, thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

Robin was trying to fall back asleep, but she was painfully aware of her roommate lingering on the bed next to her.

“Do you want to go grab some breakfast with me?”

Chloe's voice was light and lilting, but to Robin's sleep-deprived ears she might as well have been dragging her nails across a chalkboard.

“No. I didn't sleep all night. I'm going to try to get some now.”

“Oh.”

Robin's eyes were closed, but she could still sense a slight bit of disappointment in that syllable. There was several blissful moments of silence and Robin was actually managing to doze back off, when Chloe spoke again.

“Could we talk for a minute?”

Robin dramatically threw the covers off her head, and stared down her roommate.

“Chloe, I didn't get a wink of sleep last-night. None. Nada. Now, is this something we have to talk about right now, or can it wait?”

Even through her bleary eyes, Robin could tell the other girl looked a little crestfallen, but she was honestly too tired to care much.

“No, it can wait.” Chloe slowly slid off the bed. “I'm going to head on down. Catch up with you later?”

“Sounds good.” Robin had already buried her head back under the covers. She never saw Chloe pause at the door, lips pursed, before she finally slipped out the door.

******

Robert woke up laying on his back to find Samantha snuggled into his side. One of her arms was thrown across his chest, and her face was pressed into the small gap between his arm and the bed. She was still wearing the clothes she had worn for their date last night. Robert hadn't wanted to bother her after she had fallen asleep fully clothed, so he had left her on top of the bedsheets and thrown a blanket over her. He himself had slept under the bed sheets. He had a sneaking suspicion that Samantha wouldn't have minded closer contact but he didn't want to chance it, especially considering how tipsy she was last night. He slowly lifted her arm, and slid out of bed. Samantha groaned slightly as she tried to cuddle what was no longer there, but she didn't wake up. He quietly padded out of the room.

He made his way to the entrance hall. He wanted to get a better look at Ava's “redecoration” of the suite. He was a little giddy to find that the display case by the front door was full of the cheap movie props and toys off of his office desk. It was a comforting touch of the familiar, and he was happy to know that they were safe. The pictures of Thomas Valenti and the naked women that had been hanging around the suite had been replaced with various posters from some of his favorite movies. There was The Mummy, Ocean's Eleven, the first “Harry Potter” movie, and several others he had enjoyed growing up.

Satisfied with Ava's work, he made his way back to the bedroom to check on Samantha. He found her still asleep. Robert sat on the edge of the bed, wondering if he should wake her. She was lying on her side, facing him. He could see the tip of one of her long pointed ears just sticking out of her mussed hair. He hesitantly reached out and then paused, hand hovering in mid-air. Eventually his curiosity won out, and he reached out and gently brushed Samantha's dark brown hair behind her ear. She murmured gently in her sleep, and he pulled back nervously. He wasn't quite sure why, but her ears fascinated him. Maybe it was because it was the first physical transformation he had seen up close? Or maybe because it was the change he had most wanted to see on her?

Either way, he found his hand gently drifting back out, and cautiously running the tips of his finger down the back of her elongated ear. She cooed, and shifted slightly.

“Hmmmm, Robert...”

Robert looked to Samantha's face to find her fixing him with a sleepy grin, her eyes barely cracked open. He yanked his arm back, having just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Samantha simply giggled.

“That felt nice. You didn't have to stop.”

Samantha rolled onto her back, raised her arms over her head, and with a yawn, stretched her body as far as she could. As she arched her back, the blanket he had thrown over her slide down her torso. Her stretch had the side effect of lifting her large bust towards Robert.

Robert suddenly felt ashamed. Ashamed of getting caught, ashamed of losing himself in the moment, ashamed of forgetting that they were both prisoners.

“I'll...I'll be right outside.”

Robert hastily excused himself from the bedroom and fled to the kitchen. There he paced, from the small kitchen to the dining room and back, agitated and mind racing.

What was he thinking? Feeling up the ear of an **** woman like that? How could he possibly think that was ok? Yes, his date with Samantha last night had gone well, and yes, he definitely thought there could be a connection between them, but then to go and do that? How could he?

He stopped his pacing when he heard his bedroom door open. When Samantha entered the room, she found him leaning against the kitchen counter. His smile was **** and fake, but if she could tell, she didn't let on. She merely smiled back.

“Join me for breakfast?”

Despite his misgivings, Robert agreed. As they boarded the elevator, his mind continued to race. He felt guilty. He couldn't allow himself to get sucked into this show. He had to...

“You like them, don't you? My ears...”

Samantha's interruption was plainly stated. She was looking up at him expectantly. Robert was too ashamed to meet her gaze, but his reddening face screamed the truth.

“You can say yes,” Samantha said, playfully leaning into his side. “It won't bother me.”

“But you're stuck with those forever now.” Robert had found his voice, but still couldn't meet her eyes. “What are you going to do when we leave here? What will people think?”

Samantha shrugged, still leaning her shoulder against him.

“Honestly? I'm not worried about that yet. I figure we'll have more pressing problems to face in the next couple weeks. Besides, this whole show is kinda exciting.”

Robert's eyes went wide with surprise, and they finally found hers. Samantha was wearing a cheeky, but shy smile, like she was slightly embarrassed about her confession.

“Exciting?” Surely Robert hadn't heard that right.

“Yeah, exciting! Or maybe thrilling...?” Samantha wrapped her arm around his and found his hand. “One of those two. I've always loved Sci-fi and Fantasy stories because of that sense of adventure and discovery. That there's some fantastical world just beyond our normal reality, full of magic and wonder. To not only discover that's true, but to actually get to experience it for myself? Yeah, it's kinda exciting.”

“Even if you're tied to me for all eternity?”

Samantha's warm brown eyes twinkled as her grin became teasing.

“Hey, you seem like a pretty good guy. Even if you do think that Age of Ultron was better than The Avengers.”

Robert couldn't help but chuckle at that. Samantha reached out, and took Robert's other hand in hers, before turning to face him full on.

“I'm glad I got to meet you Robert.”

She was pulling down on his hands gently, while rising herself up on her toes. It wasn't until Samantha's eyes closed and she pushed out her lips that Robert realized what her aim was.

She kissed him gently on the lips. It wasn't wild or passionate, just a sweet chaste kiss. Robert found himself leaning his body into hers a little more as their lips melded together, allowing himself to enjoy the feel of her plump lips against his. For the moment, it was just enough for him to forget the reality of their situation, and just pretend that it was the morning after a great first date.

Kissed the Master! +2 VP x 2 (First Time Bonus) = +4 VP
Samantha Martinez: 2 VP + 4 VP = 6 VP