Friday Night

John had already known that Matilda had curves and long hair. What he hadn’t quite realized was just how much her work uniform - the smart grey and white chef’s outfit that all the catering staff wore at Ashcroft - covered up the extent to which she had curves. She’d chosen a black top that strained over her chest in a way that sent blood straight to John’s crotch, paired with a set of jeans that hugged her rear so tightly they looked almost painted on. Coupled with a body that was Rubenesque to begin with, and she cut quite the figure where she stood, her long hair spilling over her shoulders as she watched the ducks swimming in the pond.

Doing his best (and failing) to seem unphased by the fact that she’d gone from hot to looking like the kind of woman the old masters would have bitten their brushes in two just to get to paint, John approached her. “Umm… Hey, Matilda,” he said as he reached her. He hadn’t been particularly stealthy in his approach, but she’d clearly been engrossed in her study of the wildlife as she jumped at the sound of his voice.

“John! Oh, I’m so sorry - I didn’t notice you’d arrived. I get lost in my own thoughts sometimes when I’m outside. I hope I dressed okay for whatever you’ve got planned, I wasn’t really sure what we’d be doing.” Her tone was warm, and John found himself smiling as he offered her his arm.

This bit at least he’d planned out; daydreaming about the date had given him some useful ideas that didn’t involve them sneaking behind the nearest bush and hoping nobody spotted them. As Matilda hooped her arm through his, he turned towards the path. “I thought we could take a walk, and talk, and then we can plan where we will go next together? And…” he coughed, his cheeks tinting as he tried to keep his eyes from diving towards where her top was pulled taut, before adding, “…your outfit is lovely.”

Matilda gave a soft giggle, and leaned into him. As she did so, her arm slid back slightly so that more than just her side squished up against him. “Talking sounds wonderful. And I’m glad you ‘cough’ like my outfit. It’s nice to feel appreciated when I put effort into my appearance.”

John swallowed hard and nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. So… beyond cooking some of the best lunches ever, what else do you do?” he asked, trying to steer the conversation away from just him verbally drooling over the curvaceous woman on his arm.

Their feet crunched on the dry gravel as Matilda considered her reply. “Outside of work? I read, I’d like to play D&D but you have no idea how hard it is to find a group that’s suitably nerdy and aren’t either super dedicated to sticking exactly to the rules as written or tongue-tied about a girl playing… and can also actually keep their schedules in alignment. I cook, obviously - my job is my passion - but really what I like best is to go and harvest my own ingredients before cooking them. I spend a lot of time hiking on the outskirts of town, gathering up all kinds of wild plants for dinner and… and I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

John blinked; he’d not noticed that he’d fallen silent, so relaxed had he become in Matilda’s presence. Shaking his head rapidly, he replied, “Not at all! I asked what you like to do, and you were telling me. I get what you mean about D&D - I’ve never been able to get a group together in person for more than one session without something falling apart. And… gathering wild plants? That sounds really fascinating. How do you know which ones are edible?”

The conversation flowed freely after that - Matilda telling John about all the books she’d collected on edible plants, native foodstuffs and recipes on her endless quest to find new things to try out in the kitchen. He shared his love of online gaming, hesitantly at first, but in more detail as her eyes lit up at the prospect of playing D&D over voice chat. Eventually, John glanced up and gave a wry grin. “Well, we certainly got lost in our talk. Look, that’s the pond where we started out.”

Matilda glanced away from where she’d been watching him and blinked. “It is, isn’t it. We walked the whole way round the park and didn’t even notice.” She smiled, then tugged John over to the tree she’d originally been waiting under, sinking down with her back to it to sit on the grass. “Let’s sit and keep talking, okay? I’ve not enjoyed just chatting with someone this much in years.”

John scrambled to sit next to her, staring out over the pond as he idly ran his fingers across the grass. “Me neither. I don’t really talk with people offline that much. Feels like I’ve done more talking in the last week than I have in the last year; most of what I normally do is gaming chat, or writing of course.” As soon as he said it, he kicked himself mentally, because everything had been going so well and he knew exactly what was coming next.

“Writing? What do you write?” Matilda asked. John thought for a moment that there was something off about her tone, but he dismissed it, trying to think rapidly of a way to explain his literary pursuits without making himself sound like a massive pervert. “Fantasy romance, mostly. Like, heroes and elves and stuff. Just silly little stories I post on the internet.” John’s heart pounded as his thoughts devolved into a loop of, ”Please don’t ask for a link, it’s smut, oh god, please don’t ask for a link.”

Matilda stretched, the forward strain of her chest against her top momentarily distracting him from both his tortured thoughts and her words. Realizing she’d spoken, John blushed. “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that?” he said, trying to calm down.

The brunette giggled, a soft sound that wrapped John’s ears in honey before she repeated herself, “I said, what, stuff like ‘To Lay Dragons’? You play D&D, you must have read that one; the author is one of my favorites. They’ve written a whole bunch of rather risque stories in fantasy settings, and that’s one of their firsts. It’s not their best work, but I do have a soft spot for the characters’ first kiss.”

She leaned in as she said it, and John’s eyes opened very wide for two reasons. The first: that had been the title of the first porn story he’d ever felt was good enough to publish, one that he cringed at now but refused to take down as a matter of honor. The second was that in the story the hero had kissed his first haremette under a tree by a pond, long before he’d realised she was a dragon in magical disguise and… And Matilda was leaning in, eyes half closed.

John swallowed hard, leaned forward - and their lips met. He’d not expected a kiss on their first… This was a date, wasn’t it? An actual honest to Gaia date and he was kissing her and she was kissing him, and… He pushed forward, pressing his body against hers, warmth flooding his veins even as he was dimly aware of a chiming noise in his head.

It took all of his Wisdom and his willpower to pull back from that kiss rather than pressing his luck even further. They were in public, and while admittedly the park wasn’t exactly an unknown spot for couples to be kissing in the grass, getting handsy would most likely have gotten a groundskeeper (or a cop) called with all the issues that would entail. Resting his forehead against Matilda’s, John said the first thing that came into his head as they broke the kiss, “Wow.”

Matilda smiled up at him. “Wow indeed. And I’m guessing I was right about you writing that story, huh? Oh, don’t look so shocked - your eyes looked like a rabbit in headlights when I said the title, way more than if you’d just been aware of it from reading it. Plus, you’ve got a sticker or something of your forum avatar on your phone case, so I was pretty sure you were behind it.”

They shifted so that they were lying next to each other once more, arms loosely touching but not fully embracing as John got over the shock of learning that his date had read the erotic fiction he’d written. “So… you liked it, huh?” he said at last, feeling somewhat foolish for asking in light of what had just happened. “Wouldn’t have you down for liking harem tales.”

The brunette frowned and flicked him on the nose. “You make the characters feel real, and the harem doesn’t feel **** just because it’s smut. Besides, women are hot - I should know, I look at one in the mirror every morning - so the idea of women sharing is…” She trailed off and shifted then, sitting upright and glancing up at the sky. “John, can I be honest with you for a moment? I’m going to ask you a question and I need you to tell me no, and neither of us is going to want you to say no right now, but it’s important to me.”

John scrambled up, shifting to sitting cross-legged at her words - there was something in her tone that told him she was worried about whatever was coming next. “Of course, Matilda. I’ve had a lovely afternoon, whatever you need.”

She glanced at him from behind her hair, the long strands having fallen over her face as she’d risen. “I really, really would like to take you back to my place right now… would you like to come with me?” Her words were soft, but with an overtone of lust that sent blood rushing to John’s cock - which pressed uncomfortably tight against his pants as he froze like a deer in the headlights.

With a supreme effort, he got a hold of his emotions and shook his head slowly. “No…? No,” he said, his voice coming out in a half whisper. “You asked me to say no, so… the answer is no, Matilda.” The woman in front of him sagged suddenly, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

“Thank you, John. I knew I could trust you. I’ll text to explain later, but just know that hearing you say no now means that there definitely will be several yeses in the future.” Glancing up to meet his eyes, she smiled. “This has been an amazing… activity. Umm, are you up to anything this weekend? If not, maybe we could go for a hike together?” Then she shook her head, adding, “No, that’s silly, it’s far too soon for a second date and of course you’ll be busy at this short notice...”

John shook his head rapidly. “No, no-nothing I can’t move around or change” he stammered, reaching out to take her hand, pausing hesitantly halfway, then completing the gesture. “I’ve really enjoyed this afternoon - we’ve still got time to catch a film or get something to eat if you want, but if not, I can definitely be free tomorrow or Sunday…”

Matilda smiled at him then, and to John it felt like the sun was rising right in front of him. “I’d like that. And… we should end tonight here, I think, before I do something foolish. I’ll text you later, we’ll make plans, okay?” Then she leaned forward and kissed him rather seriously on the lips before pulling back and scrambling to her feet, the evening sun growing long behind her.