The first time, I was sure I had imagined it. I didn't so much as look to check. The difference between fantasy and reality was perfectly clear-cut. I felt the same way the second. There was a fan on in the room, things were moving around, the sensation on my chest couldn't have been what I thought it was. Impossible. The third time, I allowed myself the briefest of glances down.
I managed to suppress most of my reaction, but I couldn't help widening my eyes for a fraction of a second. No two ways about it- her finger was tracing its way around the edge of the collar of my T-shirt. My RA from down the hall, two years older and apparently more or less unattainable.
About an hour ago, she'd followed up on a promise to come by and look at an interesting anime we'd discussed earlier. We'd watched the first episode, agreed that is was pretty good, and sat down to talk about it for a bit. Being a bit of an otaku, I'd mentioned that I identified with the main character's copious porn collection. This wasn't exactly a point of pride, but it had slipped out in casual conversation. Much to my relief, it only really elicited an eyebrow raise.
A few minutes later, the conversation turned to hard drive space. I took a look to see just how much of mine was empty. To my immense chagrin, she'd asked the question that I was most hoping to avoid: "well, shit- how much of that is porn, anyway?" I couldn't do much besides laugh. Neither of us had had anything to drink, but it was late at night, getting towards the peak of exam season, so there was a certain sort of intoxicating quality to the tiredness. That was probably why I decided to take the "manly and courageous" approach and be honest.
"Yeah, probably a couple of gigabytes of images, if I'm being honest."
She seemed surprised by that, but, to my relief, not totally disgusted.
"What, just a few gigs? Lame."
In my mind, this was already absurd. I was talking about my porn folder with Steffi Goldman, the girl I'd had a bit of a crush on more or less since I first saw her, and who'd always seemed in that mysterious female dimension several miles above my own. In that spirit, without really thinking much, I pressed my luck a little further.
"Hey, some of us save for quality, not quantity. Prime material."
As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt like an idiot, wincing a little as I braced for the inevitable. Instead, she responded with a bemused laugh, sitting back on the couch with an utterly nonchalant slouch.
"Pff. Yeah, right. Probably a parade of totally generic lesbianism and overkill tits."
"Come on now, I'm not that boring."
The next words might as well have been a shotgun blast. But, with a shrug, I set hand to trackpad and reacted when she said, "Prove it."
Grimacing with embarrassment but, for some reason, determined to stick to my guns, I double-clicked the folder entitled "Female Appreciation" and began the "show." In an attempt to mitigate the awkwardness- not really her concern, but I definitely felt it- I kept up a running commentary as I ran through the files. By a few minutes, I was appreciating the Youtube-esque commentator quality of my voice, and feeling oddly comfortable in the bizarre moment.
"...so yeah, that's a penis. And that's a ballgag. That... well, she's cute, that's about all there is to it. That's pretty damn dominant. Oh look, so's that one." I realized that I'd hit a vein of BDSM content, nestled in between plenty of more conventional material. "Yep, she's doing some interesting stuff with his penis. That's a gag again. Neat. Mhmm. Handjob. A little dull, but I liked the visual style."
Right around there, I felt the first contact. A few seconds later, there was no doubt that, for some inexplicable reason, she was playing with my chest. I had no idea how to react. This was decidedly not in the playbook. With no other options presenting themselves, I kept rolling forward, trying not to let my confusion leak into the "guided tour."
About a dozen pictures later, I was hoping, increasingly frantically, that my collection would take a turn in a different direction. In the back of my mind, I berated myself for not organizing. Right about then, I felt my voice catch for a split second, slipping a few syllables and forcing me to take a second to restart. My pulse accelerated a little. More surprisingly, she laughed.
"You were saying?"
I swallowed, still far from capable of rationally dealing with the situation. She seemed to lean in a little closer, an unignorably present warmth next to me, hand casually wandering over the front of my shirt. Breathing a little more heavily, but trying as hard as I could to keep it under control, I kept talking, pace slightly accelerated as I worked to keep speaking without paying heed to the rest of the situation.
At some level, I was fully aware that I enjoyed it. Even so, nervousness carried the day by a huge margin. Her side was in contact with mine. Her hand was on my chest. I was confused.
"Hey, you know, I can stop if you want. I'm tired, I'm sorry, this is inappropriate as all hell."
"No, it's okay, I... I don't mind."
I felt blood surge to my face as soon as I shut my mouth. Any sort of decision-making capacity had been utterly bypassed for that one. I swallowed hard, suddenly aware of just how much I didn't mind. Her arm slipping around my shoulder did nothing at all to help the situation. Part of me wanted to reciprocate, but I was terrified of overstepping some sort of boundary. Nothing about this was remotely predictable. Frantically drumming my fingers on the arm of the couch for a moment, I reached back to the laptop, clearing my throat and attempting to do the one thing that I understood here.
"If you're sure you're okay with this... well, might be fun if you took your shirt off."
I coughed a few times, not entirely clear on what I'd just heard. I looked over to her, taking a deep breath and making eye contact. This made things a little better: she was more confident than me by a long shot, but I could make out a clear note of uncertainty. This was just as unplanned for her as it was for me. Somehow, that was reassuring. Even if she was completely taking the lead, she wasn't a machine. Relaxing enough for a small smile, I nodded, holding the moment before realizing I hadn't moved yet, hurriedly fumbling with the suddenly complex bottom edge of my shirt.
She responded with a brief flash of a grin, resting her chin on my shoulder and reaching down to help me, her hands seeming more stable than mine by several orders of magnitude. Between the two of us, we soon had my torso bare, leaving me to slightly shiver at the realization of just how little stood between my body and her.
"Don't be scared, Jon. I'm having a good time and I think you are too. Just relax. You're in good hands."
The message was a simple one, but the tone of responsibility made it unexpectedly calming. An upperclassman, slightly taller than me, and quite clever, Steffi was easy to trust. While I was still more than a little nervous, letting her take the wheel felt like a safe decision. She seemed to notice the moderate sense of relaxation, gently rubbing my shoulder while venturing down towards the contours of my stomach.
The lower chest was one thing, but the skin of my stomach was much more sensitive. I couldn't help but squirm at the unexpected sensation, leaning towards her for support before I fully realized what was happening. The new closeness was warm, with her quiet laugh for a soundtrack. She seemed pleasantly surprised, slowly moving her palm over my stomach and enjoying my slight wriggling movements.
"Here. Let's try something a bit more comfortable. Looks like you appreciate some contact, let's do something for that. Right here."
She sat up, moving over a little, leaning back, and slightly opening her legs, gesturing for me to sit down. Looking at me with a slightly appraising glance as I stood up, she let a hand trail along my leg, somewhat more confidence in her smile, but still tempered with the same note of concern. The overall impression was almost motherly as she reinforced the invitation: "Sit. You'll like it." Commanding, sure, but gentle. She meant it.
Hesitantly, very much aware of the tiny shifts in position and balance as my body moved, I lowered myself into her lap, my breath deepening and pulse accelerating as her legs met mine and her chest pressed against my back. I felt my jaw shake, shuddering for a few seconds with a mind of its own. This was very different. Despite my feeling distinctly vulnerable, her responses did a lot to calm my nerves. I knew her well enough not to worry about any completely bizarre turns of direction, and her concern for my consent had put me at least somewhat at ease.
"Is this okay?"
Her body cradled mine from behind, a presence that somehow made me feel both childlike and appreciated for attractiveness. More to the point, her fingers were dancing around the heat between my legs. I somehow hadn't realized it, but I was partially hard by now, enough to be visible to anyone with a clue as to what happened in situations like this. Her simple question wasn't really unexpected, but it was still more than enough to make me draw a few deep breaths before answering.
"I..." This wasn't going to come out in one breath. The reality of what was about to happen tripped my words, leaving me to stumble every few syllables as I coaxed a response out of myself: "Yeah. That- I... please..."
I knew I was blushing again. My stomach twisted, certain I had embarrassed myself in a big way by such an inarticulate response. Almost as soon as it began, the sensation stopped. She wrapped both arms around me, soothing my worries with a tight hug and softly instructing me: "Try to do it yourself. This is nice, I'm enjoying myself too. Fuck, it's weird, but we both like it, right?"