38. Escalation and Evasion
Thursday Evening
Cassie had ended up missing her Thursday classes thanks to her romp with Allie, so she wasn't aware that Dana and Miguel had also wound up skipping until she messaged them asking to borrow their notes. After some reciprocal questions and answers, Cassie began to suspect that both her lovers were dealing with fallout from what the device had done to them, so she pressured them into agreeing to come over to talk things out. She embraced both in turn when they arrived, then waited patiently while they disrobed before leading them to the living room. Dana and Miguel seated themselves on the couch and Cassie in a chair.
"So..." began Cassie, not quite sure how to broach the topic. "I kind of got the impression that you two have not had a great couple of days?"
Miguel snorted and muttered something about an understatement. Dana waited a moment to see if he was going to speak up, and when he remained sullenly silent she turned to Cassie and admitted, "Yes, things have been kind of strange since Tuesday night. For both of us, I guess, but especially for me. Neither of us wears clothes at home anymore, unless we're getting ready to leave, and our roommates are not being very supportive."
Cassie scowled and opened her mouth, but Dana pressed on before she could interrupt. "The most alarming thing, though, is that my roommates and I all wound up uncontrollably horny and we fucked each other for hours last night. Almost the same feeling as Tuesday night with the three of us. One of my roommates may still think I drugged her and raped her." Dana's dark brown eyes were shiny with moisture as she tried to calmly relate her disturbing news.
Cassandra sighed and frowned, worried about voicing her suspicions but finally decided that she owed it to her friends to tell them, even if it sounded crazy. "I think that sex toy remote control thing is what caused all of this to happen."
Both guests stared at the redhead blankly before Miguel finally simply asked, "What?"
"It's kind of a long story," Cassie warned, "But it goes something like this..."
The two visitors listened attentively as Cassandra laid out her suspicions about Leila and Maddie and the evidence she'd collected to support them. Dana's expression conveyed some degree of belief, as she seemed scared, but Miguel snorted contemptuously as the tale wound down. "That's absurd! I've been a stag hybrid my entire life! Even if the device you're talking about could hypnotize people into nudists or make them incredibly horny, there's no way it could change their bodies!"
Cassie glared and said, "I watched you grow antlers Tuesday night!" Miguel scoffed, so Cassandra sneered and added, "I also saw your dick swell into something respectable at the same time!" although she was only saying it to be hurtful. Miguel returned her cold and scornful look but said nothing.
Clearly trying to be a peacemaker, Dana held her hands out toward her lovers and begged, "Calm down, please! Even if the remote thing is missing now, there must be some kind of evidence if we've been changed."
Cassandra rolled her eyes and remarked, "You mean evidence aside from your nudism and seducing your housemates?" Dana blushed and stared at the floor, which made Cassie feel guilty. In a more moderate tone, she continued, "I don't know if there's anything we could do to prove that you truly are contagiously horny or whatever it said when I used it on you, but maybe old photographs would prove my point about Miguel." Turning to face him again, she asked, "Do you have any of those?"
Still looking stony, Miguel replied, "Not with me." After a pause he amended, "Well, my driver's license is in my wallet over there," pointing at the neat stack of his clothes on an end table by the door.
Dana immediately hopped up and rifled through her boyfriend's pants until she found his ID. She gasped and held it out, proclaiming, "No antlers!"
Miguel snorted again and said, "Look at the issue date. Late spring, same as my birthday. My antlers had already dropped and the new ones hadn't started."
Frustrated, Cassie yelled, "Well, then, dig out your fucking phone and let's look through whatever you've posted or been tagged in for the last ten years or so!"
Rolling his eyes, Miguel heaved himself off the couch and retrieved his phone and began looking through it. The longer he kept at it, the deeper his frown grew. Finally, something seemed to snap in his mind and his eyes went wide. He stared at Cassie like a deer in headlights and quietly admitted, "Oh my god, you're right!"
Smiling grimly, Cassandra said, "Well, that clinches it. Now we just have to decide what we're going to do about it."
--
Maddie smiled indulgently as she watched Ruth crawling around on the ground, wearing only a fresh diaper, giggling as she tried to chase Leila, who was in 'bunny mode' and also hopping or crawling. Mama Leila would make ridiculous faces at their adult baby, sending the girl into paroxysms of squealing laughter. The formerly snide young woman's attitude had done a complete one-eighty since yesterday. Although she still experienced some lingering guilt over the transformation, Maddie consoled herself that at least so far it seemed to have resulted in some dramatic improvements.
