Pleasant, lively dreams kept Melanie for asleep longer than she would have wanted to be. Never had she experienced such panic, and been so sound asleep in the same night. Light eventually overtook darkness in waking up, but the crystal-clear panic from yesterday still didn't overtake the inexplicable beatitude from last night. Waking up in a different bedroom, throwing off thick duvet covers to reveal having dressed down to bra and panties, she quickly put her clothes from last night back on and rushed to the room her friends were in. She got there preparing for the worse, but merely found both Geraldine and Sasha together in bed. The pair was soundly sleeping, probably naked and snuggled up against one another. Melanie's heart was left slightly conflicted between happiness of her best friends' feelings finally lovingly expressed, but also worrisome from the how and why, staring at the pair of lamia pants laying next to their bed.
It took her a moment to realize the pants had been removed, and Geraldine's lamia form had changed overnight. Lifting up the duvet from their bed, she thankfully found two pairs of legs lying next to one another. She sighed a deep sigh, thankful of things being back to normal for now, but afraid of what could happen next if the pants remained. On impulse, she grabbed the pants off of the floor and headed for the cabin's entrance.
"Mmmm, good morning."
Stopping in her tracks, Melanie looked around to see no one else but her still-sleeping friends. It only crept up on her a moment later how close that voice seemed, as if right in her ear, especially when it spoke again.
"Despite all the fun they had, I still hope you had a most...ssssstimulating night,"
the voice chuckled from nowhere into her ear, eliciting warm tingles down her spine.
"Who...where....what are you?"
"Look down for your answer."
Melanie looked down to only see the wood floor, her socks, and the shiny pants reflect sunlight at the right angle.
"How...is this possible?"
"Many things are possible, my ssssilly sssscientist."
The way the voice spoke struck the stunned biologist as much as what she said, somewhat failing to shake off the near-tranquilizing effect.
"You...you know me?"
"I know a lot about you, Melanie."
A speechless Melanie stood, letting the voice explain further.
"I know you've never been quite this confused, talking to a pair of pants that talk back. I know your mind is trying to process all the possibilities and theories that justify this new, unexplained phenomena. And I know a part of you, deep inside, knows that the answers you seek can't be quantified by how you study the science you know. No matter how skeptical you are."
Melanie frowned at the dissecting words, trying to deny the truth they revealed.
"Then you must know my skepticism has a point to it."
"As silly as it is, of course."
"Silly? Don't pretend you don't want something from me. From us. You're not doing this out of some ancient...altruism, or whatever."
"Aren't I?"
The quick, sly response sparked enough anger to set Melanie off, back to her original task of getting rid of the talking pants.
Putting on her coat and boots clumsily but quickly, she stormed out of the house, walking while thinking of how to dispose of them.
"Do you really think this is going to make a difference, Melanie?"
"Better than doing nothing, and letting you run amok."
"You think your friends will approve of this?"
"I'm doing what's best for them."
"And what if I'm what's best for you all?"
Stuck with thoughts of where and how to leave the pants, she stuck them behind the cabin's huge woodpile, some place they could stay hidden while she thought of a decent disposal site.
"Can't answer that, my sssssilly ssscientist? How about an easier question then: are you willing to let go?"
What she'd learned in her experience with hypnosis, that last question and all the connotations it meant rung deep inside. She'd came to that cabin with every intention of doing just that; how she felt she shouldn't, much softer than believing she couldn't, still gave the voice Melanie's answer.
"I see; then you'll be hearing from me. Sssssoon."
The voice faded a bit as Melanie walked away from the woodpile, ready to try and clear her head, and make some sense out of what happened after some breakfast. And with the lingering after-effects she still felt in every step back into the house, she thought a shower should be the first thing to get.
***
Sasha's eyes took their sweet time to open, stirring out of the habit of waking up early for work. Her drowsy mind protested, mewling as it tried to pull the glorious, vivid dream of Geraldine and herself joined together, bound by mind control and mutual interest. It was easier than normal to return to those dreams, as deep breaths held her interest's perfume in the air, and the healthy scent of her skin. Confused eyes opened automatically to realize why that smell was so authentic and fresh. Geraldine's lovely bare body laid atop hers. Her dream had come true, which made her want to kiss her friend and lover awake, but memories of how that dream came true followed, making Sasha check under the covers to see the state of Geraldine's legs. She thankfully found legs, and found the strength and grace to slip from underneath her body, despite loving how she sleepily gripped Sasha's arm to keep her close.
