Long time reader, first time writer. Hoping for some feedback! General advice, erotica specific advice, it's all helpful :)
FYI: This story takes a while to get going
At Home:
So Michael, do you like to receive in turn?
Huh
, I thought, seeing where the message was from.
Didn't expect that app to work
.
It was a dating app that matched people based on what their fantasies were. I'd made a profile out of curiosity, but figuring that ultimately it was almost certainly overpopulated with dudes. I guess this Sasha was wading through the chaff.
Of course ;) It's the giving that really gets me going though.
Would giving alone be enough for you then?
I tapped my phone against my chin, pondering how to answer. An email popped up on my laptop. It was just an easy filing task. It took me less than half a minute to get it done, despite an already burgeoning erection.
Christ quarantines gone on too long
, I thought. Although in truth my lack of chill downstairs was a pre-existing condition.
For a night, absolutely. However, my saintliness does have a half-life lol.
I hoped I wouldn't be penalized for the use of the non-word "lol". I got up from my couch and took some almonds out of the cupboard. When I got back there was a message and a work email both. Guess which one I checked first?
Haha, fair enough. Would you like to set up a video call? With COVID I think it's best for a first date.
I was surprised she'd gone to the question. I shrugged. It made sense really. Extensive texting back and forth rarely revelatory. A few minutes on Zoom would be more useful, awkward as it was.
Yeah, I agree :) I'm free this evening actually, or afternoons this weekend.
This evening is good. 7 pm?
Sounds good! Talk to you then!
With something to look forward to, the rest of the day crawled by. I'd meant to do some drawing after work, but with the prospect of a date I couldn't really focus. Instead I cleaned up the living room and reorganized in my room even though she'd only end up seeing a small sliver of it. I showered and got ready almost as if it was an in person date. There was, of course, a last minute technical snafu but we managed to get the zoom working easily enough.
"Hey!" She said, waving in front of the camera. She had curly red hair down to her shoulders and her face was rounded apart from delicate cheekbones. From couch she was sitting on I guessed she was in her living room. It made me a little self-conscious I was broadcasting from my bedroom but it couldn't be helped. I had roommates.
"Hey! How's it going?" I replied.
Ugh "how's it going?" Really??
I thought.
"Alright. Just finished up some debugging so hopefully no one will be calling me. How about you?" She said. Her smile was a bit ambiguous. I wasn't sure if it was cheerful misanthropy or some genuine exhaustion.
"I'm doing okay. Not a busy day at work so I went out for a bike ride around noon," I said.
"Oh, cool! Where?" She replied.
"Umm, just around West Oakland-is and a bit on the shoreline in Emeryville," I said.
Argh! Never bring up stuff that seems exciting but isn't!
I thought.
"Nice. Sounds fun," she said. Her eyes glanced at something above her screen, then off to the side. Damn it, I knew that look. Zoom boredom was setting in already.
We went through the usual small talk. What do you do for work? For fun? During social distancing? Yadda yadda. We found a little more rapport, yet it seemed to only facilitate burning through polite topics even faster. She brought it back to her job, perhaps to end the conversation, so I took a bit of a risk.
"So what do you think of the app's algorithm?" I asked. For an instant I thought I screwed up. She looked taken aback. Then she cocked her head to the side and pondered the question.
"Well, to be honest I think it's over reliant on word matching and hashtags. Like, it shows me a lot of guys who mention, um, cunnilingus, but I don't know. Does every guy put it on their profile? I mean I'm just guessing, but it doesn't seem they're really into it," she replied.
"Heh, yeah probably. The one time it's good to be really kinky so you stand out," I said. She giggled at the quip, more than it really merited I thought but that was a good sign.
"How about you? How's it been working?" She replied.
"I kind of stopped using it 'til you reached out. I think maybe the app's designed for people with more specific fantasies? Or maybe like, um, well, people want someone that's
good
at oral sex, but how do you know just from a profile?" I said.
"Catch-22. But lol, it's easy to guess who'll be really bad at it," she replied. I chuckled a bit. From some of the stuff my female friends had posted on facebook I could imagine.
So I got something right on the profile
, I thought.
"So dungeon dwellers and English majors, that's the demographic," I said.
"The safe word is "they're" not "there". T-H-E-Y-Apostrophe-R-E," she quipped. I laughed. My mind naturally supplied me with an image of her panting out the syllables while we fucked. I think I flushed a bit.
Not yet, not yet. Focus
, I chided myself.
"Probably best to stay away from homophones. Ooh, the Jabberwocky. Lots of good safe words in that," I said.
"I don't know," she shrugged. "It's got a good rhythm, don't you think?"
"Good point. It'd need a few more verses, maybe a blind fold.. could be hot," I pondered.