Digit

A note from Joey: Hi there! This is my first Literotica story, and admittedly, I feel that I have much to learn as an author. Your comments and constructive critiques are most welcome.

In this case, I wrote what I wanted to read but wasn't finding enough of: a sweet, romantic hypnofetish story, which, while certainly a fantasy, leans more realistic than not.

I hope you enjoy it.

—

Hey. So, since I'm gonna be telling you this story, I guess I should start by introducing myself. My name is Sirin, or at least, that's what got written down when my family came to the States. You can pronounce it 'she-reen.' I think there's supposed to be a little dangly thing under the S, but when we came here I was too young to say so. What can you do.

Other than that, I don't really know what to say about myself. Hmm... I play for the Serpents, which is an adult coed recreational league softball team. And I'm pretty much a certified bad bitch. What else is there to say?

It's not like the story is all about me, anyway. It's mostly about Evie.

—

I jogged up in front of my best friend Evie's house: the world's smallest mansion on a little hill overlooking the road.

Okay, so she had told me it wasn't technically a mansion. But, I mean, come on. It had a turret. It had wooden siding which I'm pretty sure was blue, but it was hard to tell for all the ivy. It had a fence

on the roof

. It was the world's smallest mansion.

A gull was standing up on that fence, looking every which-way as if something amazing was happening all around it. I could relate. This was going to be a special day. We were going to the Fruit Festival, after all.

Mental checklist time. My clothes were cleanish, my boobs were sweaty (god

damn

it was a hot one today), and my bag was right where I left it - in my hand.

I stuck my nose down the collar of my tee, and decided that I smelled acceptable. Finally, I felt the back of my shirt, right between my shoulder blades. Well, it

was

dry there when I left the facilities at the field, so I felt like I deserved a pass on that one.

Beyond the house, the sun was hanging a little low in the sky; behind me, the coastline was bathed in orange-pink. The scent of the sea was distant, but still palpable. By the time I looked back, the gull was staring at me. Hmm... it might have already been staring at me.

As I passed the black walnut tree in the yard, I smiled at its wild-looking limbs, grasping in all directions, ending in spindly twigs. Its fruit hung plump and green, but those were only the husks. The walnuts were inside. Last fall, Evie and I collected some of them and made a pie! Well, Evie mostly made the pie, because she's good with things like that. But I totally helped.

Maybe we would do the same thing this year, I hoped, in a few months.

I let myself in, as usual. The inside was slightly less scorching than outside - slightly. The windows were open, the curtains ebbing and flowing gently. From the entryway, I spotted Evie's housemates - Brian, Rob, and Jackie - sitting at the dining room table, enjoying some beers over a game of some kind.

"How the hell are ya!" I hollered.

"Hey, Sirin," said Brian. Rob gave me a quiet nod, staring intensely at the board. Jackie gave a brief chuckle at my greeting.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Ah, this is

Architects of Kazan

. It's kind of a..." he trailed off. "...Well, it's European."

I looked over the board, which seemed to be some kind of strange geometrical map covered in little wooden goats. Hmm.

"Neat. So, have you guys been to the Fruit Festival?"

"I haven't. Rob and I were thinking we might go over tomorrow."

"I was there earlier," Jackie remarked. "Scored this sweet - here, let me see if I can find it..."

She dug around in her backpack to produce a bottle of fancy-looking golden murk, which she held up proudly.

"Dandelion wine! You know how hard to find this shit is?"

"No," I said. "How hard to find is it?"

"Like... kind of hard."

I gave a hearty thumbs-up. "Nice!"

"Mmm hmm." She went back to considering the game.

Brian waved me closer. He only began to whisper after a furtive glance around the table, ensuring that the others were totally engrossed in the goat trade.

"Is, uh. Is everything all right? You know." His voice dropped to where he was just mouthing the words. "With Evie."

"Yeah," I whispered back. "She's fine. Really."

He raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

"I just hope she knows, ya know, she can hang out with us whenever she wants. And not just on board game night. I think we'd all like that."

"She knows," I told him.

"Good," he said, as we each gave a mildly awkward smile to the other.

Brian was a sweet guy, but he didn't know Evie the way I did. Speaking of which - as fun as it always was to chat up this crew, I remembered that my friend was waiting for me.

"See you later, guys!" I gave them a big wave before heading up the stairs.

—

Knock, knock.

I heard her say something that was probably "Come in."

"Hey, Evie!" I burst into my best friend's room with perhaps a bit too much excitement, probably bouncing up and down more than I should have been. She looked up from her desk and softly giggled at me, looking like a total cutie, as usual, with an emery board in hand.

Her bedroom never ceased to amaze me. It was full of so many plants, and the fresh botanical aroma permeated everything - on a day like that day, it felt like a greenhouse in there. Between the plants and the kitchenette, I didn't understand how Evie managed to keep everything so neat and clean. Her bed occupied the center of the room, with a stately desk and an enormous bookshelf nearby.

My eyes were drawn to her bed - plush and enormous. A huge pile of pillows sat upon it. Personally, I was a one-pillow kind of person. But when I looked at the sheer luxury before me, I was tempted to throw away my old lifestyle and become a shameless pillow hoarder as well.

Even with the heap of pillows, her bed was easily large enough to fit three Evies more than comfortably. Or one of Evie and one of me.

Well, that was silly. What was I thinking?

Then I noticed Evie pointing to the door behind me, smiling patiently.

Oh, right.

Evie kept on giggling as I flailed my arm behind my back, trying to grab the door handle without having to take my eyes off her. I watched her put the file away and uncap a bottle of cuticle oil, brushing it onto her fingers.

And, at some point, I found the door handle. Finally I tugged it completely shut - it fit very snugly against the foam soundproofing that was all around the door frame. Hell, Evie was stronger than she looked, otherwise she'd never be able to shut this thing by herself. I had to put my body weight into it.

When Evie finally spoke, I realized she had been waiting for me to finish, which was just like her.

"Hey, Sirin." She was smiling calmly, but warmly. "It's good to see you."

Her voice was as light as air. As I was drawn closer, I could see her smooth, shiny nails.

"Hmm," I said, in mock appraisal. "Your nails are short but very elegant. Just like the rest of you!"

"I am not short!"

I stepped closer, partly because I wanted to hear her better, and partly because I just wanted to.

She stood and craned her head to look up at me with the same modest little grin as usual, and I noticed that she was wearing a short summer dress I hadn't seen before, one with a colorful floral print.

"You look nice!" I said. "And the dress is nice, too."

"Mmm."

I bent a little to give her a big, friendly squeeze while she put her arms around me with all the strength of a gentle breeze. I enjoyed the warm, spicy scent of the fragrance she wore - cinnamon leaf oil, I happened to know. When we parted, she was smiling just a little more broadly than before, and that made me happy.

"Someone's friendly today," she remarked.

Of course, I'm always at my friendliest when Evie is around.

"Wow!" I said, my eyes no doubt twinkling with excitement. "Your hair is so fluffy! Can I touch it?"

"Um?"

I patted her on the head, feeling the softness of her hair. It fluffed out into voluminous curls. Short yet elegant. The funny thing about Evie was that she had a head of hair that perfectly suited her - soft tufts that you just wanted to squish your face into. Or was that just me?

Then, I remembered.

"An angora goat!"

"Hmm?"

"Remember last week I was trying to tell you what your hair is like? I was like, not an alpaca - not a sheep - but I didn't know what to call it? I figured it out! It's like an angora goat."

"It is not!" She tried to stifle a laugh as she protested. "And you shouldn't just... pet people like that."

"Do you want me to stop?"

She didn't answer, but I saw that her face was getting a little red. That was one of Evie's many amazing skills - the ability to blush, lots.

"Ah, sorry." I withdrew my hand.

"It's fine." She picked up her shoulder bag from the desk and started poking through it. It gave her something to look at.

"So, how did your game go?"

Great. A change of subject.

I proceeded to tell Evie how our pitcher got lost on the way to the vending machine; how I went on to score the first run after tripping and sliding right between the third baseman's legs; how we were down by four runs going into the final inning; how a pissy goose stole the ball...

At some point Evie started giggling, and I stopped long enough to become aware of my own arms gesticulating wildly.

"Eh? Did I say something funny?"

"No," she replied. "I just enjoy seeing you so happy."

"Ah." I stared out the window, suddenly conscious of myself again.

I don't think I had to clear my throat right at that moment, but I did anyway.

"Hey, Evie. You know your housemates are playing

Architects of

... some place?"

"Kazan."

"You ever play with them?"

"A couple of times."

She spoke a little softly - as she always did - and I found myself leaning in closer, listening more closely to her, as I always did. Evie wasn't like my other friends. She was the only one who could make me hold still for a moment.

I liked that about her.

"You could hang out with them more often if you wanted to. I'm sure they'd be willing. Er, they'd like that. Definitely."

"I know. Brian always invites me. He invited me today. I mean, we're going to the Fruit Festival today. But as for the other times, well..." She shrugged.

"You know, if you decide to join them again sometime, you can feel free to call me up. I'd like to play with you guys."

"Thank you."

She showed me her modest little smile.

I knew she was happy just being who she was. I didn't feel like she was lonely. But I also knew that when she wanted to push her comfort zone, I was the one she looked to for help. So I liked to put the option out there when I could.

I was pretty sure that I was her only friend.

She began to put on her shoes - a pair of flats. Next to them on the shoe mat, I noticed a pair of slip-ons I didn't think I'd seen before. But then I brushed up against one of her plants, and I just had to say something.

"You know... like, you have so many plants. How the heck do you deal with them all?"

"I like my plants," Evie said. "They're very lively."

"Hmm... okay." Did that answer the question?

"I especially like this one," she said, pointing out a red fuchsia with its many brilliantly-colored flowers. "It reminds me of someone special."

"Oh? Who's that?"

She gave me a playful poke on the shoulder - god her smile was precious. "My best friend," she said.

I had to smile, even if I was looking out the window again. She turned to her desk and opened a drawer, looking for something to put in her bag, I guessed. I parked myself on the edge of the bed.

At that angle, the sun didn't hit me quite as much. The light streaming into the room was partially blocked by the battery of plants on the windowsill. I looked out over the coast, at a single sailboat cruising along lazily in the bay.

"Hmm," I remarked.

"Mmm?"

"Hey, Evie," I said. "You ever get... not

lonely

, but -

lonely

? Being by yourself, that is."

"I enjoy my alone time," she replied.

"Ah, well, what I meant was - not being in a relationship with anyone."

She chuckled. "Like I said, I enjoy my alone time."

"Wish I had that attitude," I sighed. "I haven't been with anyone since Reg and I broke up, and honestly, it's kind of wearing on me."

"You never talked much about the breakup," she said gently. "You can, if you want to."

"Oh, it wasn't a big deal. It's not like we were ever super close. I mean, I liked him, of course. He taught me a lot of things. And the sex was incredible."

"Mmm?" she said, noncommittally.

"Oh yeah. Did I ever tell you how it went? The breakup?"

"Mmm," she said, with the kind of inflection that definitely meant no.

"Well, after we got our degrees, he was like, 'I'm going to work for a startup in Oregon, you wanna come with me?' And I was like, 'I wanna stay here.' And that's how it went. We still talk sometimes. He tells me about how he lost his job and started fucking a millionaire. I tell him about my adventures managing the donut shop."

"Mmm," she said with understanding and sincerity.

"I dunno. It's fine. It just feels weird being single..." I trailed off. "And honestly, I dunno what he ever saw in me. We were from two different worlds."

"You have a lot to offer someone, Sirin," Evie said. "But I think the more important thing is being able to love yourself." I nodded. That was a good way of thinking about it.

"I'm going to use the bathroom real quick," she said. "Then we'll go?"

"Sure thing."

Lucky. Evie's bedroom had a private bathroom attached. There was nothing like that in my family's box.

—

The evening was still a hot one when we left the house. As we walked out of the yard onto a shadeless stretch of sidewalk, the sun hit me in the eyes, and I looked down. The sidewalk was full of cracks and lumps where roots were growing underneath it.

A dude walked past with a tiny bichon frise. "That's my guard dog," he said, smiling as he passed.

Evie walked... tenderly? As if she feared she would injure the sidewalk by stepping on it too hard.

"Oh. Hey, Evie," I said. "Are those new slip-ons I saw in your room?"

"Hmm?" She looked up when I broke the silence.

"On your mat. There was a pair of shoes I've never seen you wear before?"

"Oh. Those are my dancing shoes."

She dropped this truth upon me like a bag of bricks.

"What?!" I said, throwing my arms around in a way that was definitely normal and didn't make me look like a crazy person at all.

"Mmm? What do you mean?"

"I didn't know you danced!"

"Oh," she looked away, "that's because I only do it when no one's around."

"...Can I see you dance sometime?"

"Hmm... probably not."

I hung my head but did not protest, gracious in my defeat.

"Huh. So," I said, "are you looking forward to the festival?"

"I'm looking forward to going there with you."

I could barely hear her over the sound of the pebbles I was kicking across the sidewalk. I slowed down and waited for her to catch up.

"Thanks for making time for me," she continued. "I know you have a lot of other things on your plate."

I shrugged.

"I've always got stuff going on. But, you know, when we hang out, I feel like I can kind of let a lot of that go and just focus on one thing."

"What thing is that?"

I looked over to the rooftops of the houses we were passing. There was a gull standing on top of someone's gable. The same one from before? I felt like it was looking at me.

"Oh, I don't mean any one thing in particular. Just, you know, one thing... generally."

"Mmm."

You don't get to judge me, bird. You're a bird.

"So you're looking forward to the festival too, then?" Evie asked.

"You know it! It's nice to do something a bit more relaxing," I said. Evie smiled warmly in response.

"That's funny. I was actually thinking this was the most exciting thing I've done in a while."

I gave her a gentle thump on the back. "Well, that's fine, too! Let's make this the most exciting Fruit Festival ever - a Fruit Festival you won't ever forget!"

"Thanks, Sirin. You're kind."

"Eh? Hmm? What are you thanking me for?"

"For being my friend, I guess."

"Well, shit. You don't have to thank me for that. I'm your friend because I want to be."

"I mean it, though. I really enjoy... you know."

She gestured at me.

"My shirt?"

"No." God damn where did she learn to smile so sweetly? "Spending time with you."

"Uh. Are you sure? 'Cause it's a really nice shirt," I said. "It has this soft fabric that feels really good to run my hands over, and the color - plum? - is just neutral enough to go with a lot of different things."

I looked down and started smoothing out my shirt. Why did Evie get like this sometimes? So... serious? Personal? You know - I want you to know, I'm not so much for the mushy talk. I wouldn't take that from just anyone. Unless I'm the one who starts it.

"You're pretty funny, you know," she said with a little chuckle.

"Eh, I try."

"But, you know, you don't have to be coy."

"I don't know what you mean," I replied, cool as ice. Probably.

"Alright."

Evie and her damn words. I was gonna get her for that.

—

Somewhere along the way, my phone dinged. Shit. It was probably my dad.

Yep, it was my dad: "I talked to Babaie again. I think he is ready to forgive you if you apologize."

I shot a quick text back. "I didn't do anything wrong."

I only had to look at the dots for a few seconds before he replied. I knew what he was going to say, anyway. "It's not about who is right and who is wrong. Everyone has to make sacrifices to get along."

Yep.

You know what? Not now. Not here. I put my phone back in my pocket.

"Everything alright?" Evie asked.

"Just fine," I said.

Oh, thank fuck. Here came something else to think about.

It was a dog. An excited dog! A very excited dog, dragging a leash behind him. His fur was kind of poofy and curled. Possibly a doberdoodle? He was drooling from both sides of his mouth.

"Oh my god!" I hollered. "Cute!"

"Uh, I don't know about that," Evie said, her voice wavering.

"It's fine, he's friendly!" I play-rastled the dog to the ground, petting him all over as he flopped around and generally acted like a doofus. "Aren't you, boy? Aren't you?"

"It looks dangerous," Evie said from some distance away.

"Oh, no, he's a good boy! Look - there's nothing to stop you from petting him if you want."

"I'm not really a dog person," she said from behind the closest telephone pole.

"He's so soft though! His hair is almost as fun to touch as yours."

I laughed as the dog hopped all over me, banged his nose into my crotch, and tried to hump my shoe. When he tried to move toward Evie, I grabbed his collar and kept having fun with him, not letting him move an inch.

"He's friendly!"

"It looks kind of crazy," Evie said from behind a different, farther-away telephone pole.

"Of course he is! He's a dog! Look, it's fine, you just have to let him get to know you."

When I looked up from petting him, Evie was peering wide-eyed at the dog from just a little ways down the sidewalk. I gestured at him.

"Look how friendly he is!"

Evie got a little closer. The dog rolled around on the sidewalk like an absolute buffoon, batting his tail furiously against the ground. He was so cute.

"Uh, I'm not so sure about that," she said from behind me.

"Look, it's fine."

By the time Evie stepped up next to me, he was starting to tire out, and reacted by quietly drooling on the ground in satisfaction when she bent to give him a little tummy rub.