fantastica
EROTIC COUPLINGS

Fantastica

Fantastica

by thedoctah
19 min read
4.61 (4700 views)
adultfiction
🎧

Audio Coming Soon

Audio being prepared

--:--
🔇 Not Available
Check Back Soon

I had come in for Thursday evening happy hour and ended up bullshitting with some people and stayed a little later than usual. I'd had dinner at the bar, which is not too bad, well this place has become a sort of home-away-from-home for me. When they remodeled the old hotel, I figured they'd turn the bar into some sort of corporate disco thing, but they were smart and kept its hometown character, just replaced some of the furniture and stocked the bar better. The regulars and locals kept coming in, plus of course tourists and people staying in the hotel.

The bartender Andy and I go way back, to when he used to be at Cooder's, on Second Street. I like this better though, The Mop Shop. I guess I could be home watching TV or something, but I kind of enjoy having people around. I don't have what you'd call "friends," and don't want any; I like my privacy, my freedom, and hanging out at the Mop Shop is just about the right amount of friendliness for me. I can get to know someone as well as I want, and if I feel like getting up and walking away nobody really cares.

The happy hour crowd had mostly drifted off and I was nursing a beer, thinking about the meaning of life, or rather the meaninglessness of it. It was pretty quiet, a couple of regulars who I never talk to, a handful of strangers who'd wandered in, probably tourists. A couple sitting next to me had some papers on the bar and were talking quietly, pointing occasionally at the papers, shuffling them. I could see there were a grids with checkmarks here and there, but it was none of my business. We get business people here, passing through town, making deals.

I heard the lady next to me saying, "You've checked a lot more items than I have, I think it's my turn." The man said, "I agree, but you have to pick something." "Well, it's hard," she said, "And scary."

I was trying not to eavesdrop, honest.

"The one in the elevator," she said. "God, Robert, I came this close to getting caught."

"Yeah but you made that guy's day."

She laughed, "I think you're right."

"Nothing like that ever happens to me," the man said.

"Or me," she said. "Unless I start it."

"See," he said, "That's why this is so good. Think how boring life would be if we didn't shake the dice and throw 'em sometimes." But I wasn't eavesdropping, honest.

Andy came to our end of the bar, "Get you folks anything?" I ordered another beer and the couple next to me got a round of some kind of cocktails.

They looked over at me and nodded and I smiled. "Workin' on your off-hours, are ya?"

"Oh no," the woman said. "This isn't work."

"Oh, okay," I said. "Sorry, it looks like work."

"This is fun stuff," the husband said. They were a nice-looking couple, solidly middle class, I figured two six-figure careers, no kids.

"All right," I said, not wishing to pry. They were whispering between themselves, or talking under their breath.

"This is marriage stuff," the husband said.

"Working on our marriage," the wife said. She had straight blond hair, just the way I like it, and nice knockers which were not very well concealed under an invitingly-unbuttoned top, very fashionable looking. I could see the lace of what I assumed to be an expensive, brand-name bra.

"I see," I said. "I suppose I shoulda worked on mine some," and I laughed sarcastically.

"Didn't work out, huh?" the husband said. He seemed not to be concerned about prying.

"Naw," I said. "Crashed and burned. My fault, of course. Well it's been a couple years, ya get over these things." I was not sure this last part was true, but I was hoping it was.

"Well you've heard of Fantastica, haven't you? We're doing that."

"Uh, yeah, of course. I loved those ballerina elephants," I replied. "Laughed my head off."

"Good one," the wife said, lifting a glass to me and taking a sip. "I'm Ellen, this is Robert."

"Hi, I'm Doc. I'm guessing that Fantastica is not a Disney movie from a million years ago?"

"No," Robert said. "I think that's Fantasia. I saw that in school. It was good."

"I see, so different thing, cool." I didn't know what Fantastica was, never heard of it, and actually didn't give a fuck. I did, however, like the look of this lady's tits.

"I guess not being married you would not have tried it," Robert said. "It's a kind of new thing the psychotherapists are recommending. At first it was for, you know, couples in trouble, but it works so good they are saying everybody should do it."

"I see." You might assume that I would be cynical about this kind of bullshit, and you would be correct. "So what is it, like meditation or something, yoga?"

"Oh no," Ellen said, "This is a whole new concept, in the last few years. Doctor Amberstapp had the first studies on it, at, uh, a university in Holland, I think."

Robert said, 'The idea is that people in a marriage or a relationship unintentionally put each other in a state of confinement. They say, 'When the body is caged the mind runs wild' in a marriage."

Ellen: "Their studies found that something like ninety percent of married people are fantasizing constantly about things they can't do because, you know, they're married."

Robert: "And the other ten percent are lying about it."

"Yeah, tell me about it," I said. "'Cept I made the mistake of uncaging the body a few too many times and got caught."

"Yeah, you see," Robert said, "That's exactly it. You uncaged -- that's exactly what they call it -- but without your partner's support. We call that 'cheating.'"

I laughed. "You don't say? That's what my wife's lawyer called it, too."

Ellen said, "So what Fantastica does is, you each make lists of your fantasies, and you share them with your partner. Usually you do this along with a counselor. And then there is a system for learning to allow your partner to uncage. And, just as hard, allowing yourself to uncage."

"I'll tell you, it's terrifying sometimes," Robert said.

It sounded like bullshit to me, but that was not an argument I wanted to start. If this is what they want to do, what do I care? Maybe it'll work for them -- I am obviously not the guy to be dishing out marital advice.

Ellen said, "So that's what we're doing. We each make two Fantastica lists, one for ourselves and one for our partner."

"What you'd want the other person to do?"

"Exactly," she said. "In a healthy relationship all of our fantasies are not about ourselves, we also fantasize about our partners doing things."

📖 Related Erotic Couplings Magazines

Explore premium magazines in this category

View All →

"I bet that's an eye-opener," I said, hoping I didn't sound too cynical.

"I never imagined," Robert said. "This girl has a vivid imagination." They both laughed. I kind of wondered what item they were thinking of. I might like to watch, you know?

"And the things he thought of," Ellen was grinning. "Things I never would have imagined. But then you think about it, and you see how it makes sense."

"I bet this makes for some interesting conversations," I said.

They both laughed. "Oh yeah," Robert said. "That's called Level Zero. Talking about your lists. You show them to each other, and then talk about each item. Usually the first draft of LZ is pretty tame, LZ, that's Level Zero. But it gets more detailed over time, and more meaningful. And more adventurous. For us, this really shined a light on our marriage. It was like starting over again, just finding out how the other person felt and what they thought about."

"I thought some of it was shocking and actually some of his ideas seemed gross," Ellen said. "And he said some of mine were, so I guess we're even. But after you talk about them, you see how the other person sees it, and it turns out not to be repulsive or whatever most of the time."

Robert smiled, "In fact, some of them have turned out to be actually kind of fun, though sometimes I hate to admit it."

"I see," I said. "And how many levels are there?"

"There are six levels altogether," Robert said.

"And you are...?"

"We're just about to start Level Three," Ellen said.

"So you've got a little experience, it sounds like."

"We've been going through it for nearly a year now. We work with a social worker who helps us get over the humps and understand each other's points of view better."

"Sounds expensive," I said, sounding cynical.

"Oh no problem," Robert said. "Insurance covers it."

"So you show each other your lists and talk about them. And it sounds like you keep adding to them?" They had piqued my curiosity.

Robert said, "Oh yeah, there's always new stuff."

Ellen jumped in, "But you never erase anything. We do it on a spreadsheet, so we use strikethrough. You might decide not to do one of the Fantasms, as they call them, or you might decide not to discuss it for now, but that doesn't mean you've stopped thinking about it."

"Wait a minute -- you actually do these things?"

They laughed and clinked their glasses together. "Oh yeah," Ellen said.

"It sounded like maybe it was a communication thing, you learn to talk about your feelings or something," I said. I was glad I was talking to these people, this was much more interesting than most conversations at the bar.

"Yeah, that's Level Zero," Robert said. "That's important, and I'd say ninety percent of couples only get that far. But it's an incredibly good step to take. We don't consider it a failure if a couple only gets to Level Zero."

"I see, so then I guess there's a Level One," I said.

"Sure," Ellen said cheerfully. "It turns out that there are some things that turn up on both people's lists. So you meet with your counselor, you go through those -- sometimes the wording is different or the ideas are a little different but they turn out to be essentially the same -- and you reconcile them, then you prioritize them. That's still Level Zero. You start talking about these things in concrete terms. Like, say it was something like, uh, something simple, oral sex, you might talk about how you would do that, where you would be, what you would need. You might talk through the steps of it and what they call the 'Icks," the parts that you might not think you'd like."

"Interesting," I said. Of course I was thinking about my own marriage. Just talking would have probably gotten my ass shot, but whatever. "So then at some point you decide it's time to do one, huh?"

Robert said, "Yeah, so say at Level Zero there was something on my list for Ellen, and something similar on her list for herself, and we talked about it and decided the two items really meant the same thing. Then, like she was saying, we figure out how we would do a thing. You gotta talk through the Icks and map the landscape, they call it. Then we go through it with the counselor, and if everybody is in agreement we graduate to Level One. That is, we do the thing."

"Sounds pretty cool," I said. "So tell me, do you talk to your friends about these things? I'm a little bit out of it -- is this a thing that people do?"

Robert said, "Just about everybody we know is doing this. Like, we told some friends when we were ready to graduate to Level One, but we didn't say what we were going to do."

"I see, well that's a nice thing."

"And then after we did pass that step," Ellen said, "You can keep it private if you want, or you can share with friends. There's no rule but it could make it harder when you talk to other people too much about it. They might not understand or something. One Fantastical motto is, 'It's between the two of you.' Even if it's not, exactly." They sort of smiled at her last comment.

Robert took over. "And then you do the thing, and there is a kind of rating scale afterwards, and you decide either check it off and stop for a while, or repeat the step until you are comfortable with it. You usually find out that, after a while, things you Interfered on, that's what they call it, Interfering, don't sound so bad once you've gone a few more steps. And then you can go back and reopen that Fantasm and repeat it until you've learned to accept it."

"And I am assuming these are sexual things?"

"Oh absolutely," they said cheerfully. "That's what it's about."

Ellen lay her hand on Robert's arm affectionately and said, "I remember my S1L1, that is Step One Level One. God, I was so nervous. And we'd talked about it so much, and gone over it so much, and Robert was right there, so when I did my first Fantasm it was amazing."

"So with that one, we decided to go ahead and R2C, Repeat to Comfort. And that took a few weeks, and then we started discussing another item."

"But of course you keep going back to them," Ellen said. "And you develop a repertoire, it's great." She stopped for a second, looking at me, and said, "I think I have a card." Her purse was under the bar, and she reached for it but couldn't find it. When she leaned down to get it her top fell open and I got a great look at those beautiful breasts. They were nice and big, firm, with pale nipples -- I could see the whole thing, both of them. She sat up and set her purse on the bar.

"There's no card," she said. "I was just showing you my very first S1L1."

"What was it?"

"I learned to 'accidentally' let men see my breasts," she said, using finger-quotes. "It was on both our lists, but I had always been afraid to do it. I hope you liked it." She smiled at me. Gotta say, she had me wrapped around her little finger at that point.

"You have beautiful breasts," I said. "I definitely appreciated the view."

Robert was beaming at the bar.

"Well if that's what you're learning to do, I am totally in favor of it," I said. I raised my beer and they raised their cocktails and we clinked glasses together. "Really," I said, "That is a good thing to do. Spreading some sunshine. I hope it catches on."

I kind of wondered what she might have gotten Robert to do, but it seemed rude to ask. And it was none of my business -- I'm just some asshole at a bar, not a friend or somebody who knows about this stuff.

🛍️ Featured Products

Premium apparel and accessories

Shop All →

"Anyway, I don't think you would call that 'work,' would you?" Robert said.

"Hey if that's work, where do I apply," I said.

Ellen said, "So we were looking at our lists, prioritizing, comparing. We're here for a conference and just had dinner at the hotel restaurant, which by the way is not too bad, and we were planning our next Steps. Steps happen within Levels. There's no set number of them, it's just a way to keep track of your Fantasms. So like Step One Level One was the first thing I tried at Level One."

"So then you go meet with the counselor and plan out the next thing?" I asked.

"Not all the time," Ellen said. "Like, all four of our Starter Lists, we call 'em,' had something about being more spontaneous. You can't plan that. Sometimes something just comes up and you go with it."

"Good point," I said. "Question. How does the other person know you were Fantasticking, if that's what you call it, and not just fooling around?"

"We call it Fantasming," Ellen said.

"It can get strange," Robert said. "Like the time Ellen found me fingering the cocktail waitress back in the hallway of a bar at a place back home. Hey I couldn't help it if she had the shortest dress in the world and no panties and my fingers ended up between her legs. I was supposed to do something spontaneous, right?"

"So what happened?"

"Actually, in that case, Ellen came around the corner and saw what I was doing, and she figured it out. She gave me a wink and went on to the ladies room."

"But you're right, that's a hard one," Ellen said. "The spontaneous fantasm is hard because it can be just about anything. Like, Robert or I could decide to do anything at any time. It might not make sense but the other person has to learn to understand and accept it. That one took a lot of talking before we were ready." She smiled warmly at her husband.

"It's usually clear," Robert said. "If the other person is watching for it."

Ellen stood up from her barstool and turned to me. She stepped up and pushed her breasts into my chest, threw her arms around my neck, and pulled my face down to hers. Her mouth opened to me and I felt her tongue feeling around my lips, and then inside my mouth, and my tongue responded, exploring her mouth. My hands also responded, reaching around to feel her ass and give her cheeks a squeeze. She responded to my responding by pushing her hips against mine. I'm sure she could feel my hard-on responding as she ground against me.

Our mouths parted and she lay her head on my shoulder. "Mmm," she said. "That was nice." I reluctantly let my hands drop from her fabulous ass, and she slowly slipped back to her barstool. Robert was smiling in the background.

"See?" he said.

"I like it," I said. "This is a good new tradition."

"It has really helped us," Ellen said.

"There's one problem though," I said, after a sip of beer to clear my head a little. "That is, the other person. Like, Robert, did you finish that waitress off?"

"She had two orgasms standing in the hallway," he said. "She was happy."

"I see. Well that's good. And then I guess you were all hot and bothered and took it out on your sexy wife here when you got home."

"Yup," Ellen said. "He was wound up, I'll tell ya."

"And so tonight you're gonna get worked up with me and then go and fuck this guy's brains out afterwards."

It seemed to me their smiles sort of froze.

"Actually," Ellen said, "That's not really how it works."

"What's not?"

"If I'm spontaneous it's for me. It's not for my husband. Oh it'll average out over time. We each have two lists, remember? Spontaneity came up on my list for myself. I wished I allowed myself to do more impulsive things. It so happened Robert also wished that, but if I do something spontaneous I don't do it for him."

"I see."

"Kissing you was for me," she said. "I wanted to do that. Normally, in an old-school marriage, if a woman had that kind of impulse she'd just keep it to herself."

"I can see how that would keep the peace," I said.

Robert said, "But you can see how she'd also end up being resentful and frustrated. And blame her husband."

"Sure," I said, "On the other hand, there's the other guy."

"The other guy?" Ellen asked.

"Yes, in this case me." Looking her over, she was in fact a delicious young thing. I had the shovel in my hand, figured I'd just dig my hole deeper. "You haven't told me what your project is here, but as far as Ellen goes, the ones I've heard about amount to teasing. Is that what this Fantastical thing is about, sending sexy young women out into the world to plant a crop of hard-ons and leave them hanging?"

I could see this was not the way they wanted to look at it. Robert said, "Sex is not all about orgasms. Sometimes it's just fun to play. The trip is more important than getting there."

I felt like slugging him.

"To be honest with you," I said, "Normally if a pretty lady shows me her tits and then starts making out with me, uh, I end up fucking her. I didn't come to this bar to be part of somebody's psychology project."

"That happens sometimes," Ellen said. "Not in L1, but we're at the top of Level Two now."

I gave them a nice smile. "Oh good," I said. "So I have a chance."

They laughed nervously.

I kept digging. "Anytime you're ready for another burst of spontaneity," I said, looking at her.

"Just a minute," she said, and she turned to her husband.

Now there was some chit-chat I didn't understand. As far as I could tell, they were debating whether this was an "L2G" or an "L2D" situation. They weren't exactly arguing but there was a difference of opinion.

"Sorry about that," Robert said. "Even after six months for us, sometimes we're not sure how it works."

"As far as spontaneity goes, Robert and I have talked about that and we have a pretty good idea what limits we can accept."

He added, "Which is, pretty much, anything goes, and we'll talk about it later."

Enjoyed this story?

Rate it and discover more like it

You Might Also Like