NOVEL NEXT [Vol. 4 pt. 42]
“I guess this is a pretty good way to make up for most furniture not being able to fit you,” I said to Thera as the two of us sat in a hammock made from her webbing up between two trees. “If you can’t fit on a normal bed, just make your own.”
“That is one way of looking at it,” Thera replied, her arms draped over my chest from behind with her hands resting on my abdomen. She also made sure that the back of my head was pressed against her breasts to use them as pillows.
Honestly, I didn’t expect any of that. She only ever gave me quick, teasing touches before. But now? Now, she was practically hoarding me to herself. Her arms over my chest, my head against her chest, a couple of her legs wrapped around my lower half—I felt like she was completely wrapping me up with her body, and it was nice. Really nice. “So, what’s gotten you into such a touchy mood all of a sudden?”
“I no longer have to hold back… is what you would have me believe, anyways. So, if I am to place my trust in you and not allow my own fears to dominate my mind… I can indulge in that which I have always longed for.”
“You’ve always longed for cuddling me with your entire body?”
When I didn’t get a response, I tried to turn my head to look up at her face… only to be stopped and forced to look forward.
“You do not have permission to look at me right now,” Thera said.
“I need permission to look at you?” I asked.
“When I am smiling this much, yes.”
“Come on, Thera. Let me see you smiling like a giddy schoolgirl.”
“Absolutely not, darling. Also, you have no proof that I am smiling like a… ‘giddy schoolgirl.’”
“You didn’t deny it.”
“I said you have no proof, not that it is not true.”
“You’re cute, Thera.”
Thera didn’t reply to that. Instead, she tightened her grip around me and said, “I have held back for far too long. I hope you do not mind if I stop restraining myself.”
“If anything, all I’m going to mind is if you do restrain yourself. Just be yourself and do what you want.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“Because it is. You want to kiss me? Then kiss me. Want to hug? Then hug me. Want to grope my dick? Then grope my dick. Want to bite my neck? Then bite it. Whatever you want, just do it. You have my consent.”
“The more you speak, the more you make me want to go back in time and slap myself across the face for being so stupid. All this time together… I could have been spending it with you in more meaningful ways, yet I acted like an immature child.”
“Well, you just have to make up for all the time lost by being extra clingy until you’ve made up for it.”
“And what about after I make up for it?”
“Then you continue being clingy anyways.”
“I… would not mind that.”
Thera might have struggled with the whole honesty thing, but I had faith in her to improve. “So, I’m curious. I thought you were a college student before, but now I know that’s not exactly true. What’s the life of the mysterious Thera actually like?”
“Please, darling, I am not mysterious in the slightest,” Thera replied. “That being said… it is a life of boredom for the most part. I have worked as a paralegal for the last few years, I live alone, and I spend my non-game free time either reading or… to put it simply, taking care of my cats.”
“Ah. So, not only are you an older woman, but you’re an older woman who lives on her own and has pet cats. You’re really leaning into the stereotype of being an old, single cat lady, aren’t you?”
Thera’s grip around me became painfully tight. “I may love you, but I am still willing to hurt you.”
“That’s—that’s kind of hot,” I grunted out.
She loosened her grip right after that. “Of course you would think so. Truly, I just cannot win against you.”
“You might beat me in physical PvP, but you can’t beat me in mental PvP. Anyways, you said ‘to put it simply’ when it came to your cats. What’s the not-so-simple way of putting it?”
“You do not need to know that.”
“But I want to know it.”
Thera let out a light sigh. “If it was not for wanting to be more honest with you, I would never tell you this, but… I suppose it is only right to.”
“I feel like I’m about to hear some sort of cat-related conspiracy.”
“It is nothing so grand. Rather, I… you see… I may… operate a rather… popular social media account… for my cats.”
“Thera.”
“Yes?”
“Do you post pictures and videos of them while acting like the one posting them is one of the cats themselves?”
“N-no…” Thera stuttered.
Thera actually stuttered.
“It’s extremely obvious that you’re lying, but I can understand lying in this case, so I’ll let it slide,” I teased.
“You are cruel, darling. That being said, I… will not feel ashamed over what I do, for it is for a good cause. All of the donations I receive for my cats’ account goes toward my local animal shelters. No matter how embarrassing it may be to admit that… I type posts as if I were them, I will never stop for as long as it helps me help those in need.”
“Even though you’re somebody who pretends to be a cat on social media, you still end up being even cooler than me. How do you keep doing it?”
“I would not say I am any cooler than you. After all, I have watched many of your videos—your safe videos, that is. You have helped many people and continue to educate those in need of it. We simply help different groups in different ways. When it comes to acts like these, they should not be compared against each other.”
“All you’re doing is making yourself sound cooler and cooler. You know that, right?”
“Perhaps you simply have a thing for older women who have the experience to understand things like this.”
“That is absolutely part of it. By the way, my mom is going to love you.”
“She… she will?”
“Well, she’ll probably take some points off for the deception, since I’ve talked to her before about you under the assumption that you’re around my age, but she should love you once she gets over that. But when I was younger, she used to tell me about how she wanted me to date somebody twice my age so that she’d have things in common with her and could be friends with her. Not that she wouldn’t force her way into being friends with any girl I date, but she figured it would be easier if my girlfriend was older.”
“I suppose I see the logic there, as strange as it may be. As for my own mother… she already loves you, so there is nothing to worry about there.”
“She already loves me?”
“Indeed. My father came across your videos entirely by chance, and ever since he binged them… my mother has considered you the second coming of Christ for bringing their bedroom back to life. She has no idea that I know you, but she already practically worships you. My father as well, albeit to a lesser degree.”
I couldn’t help but laugh a little when I heard that. “I think our parents will get along.”
“I do not doubt it. Aside from that, my mother always told me to go after a younger man. She believes men are always more loyal when with an older woman.”
“Now that’s… something I can’t say I’ve heard before.”
“As far as she is concerned, if a man dates a woman his own age, then he will likely still be attracted to younger girls and compare his partner to them as they age. But should a man willingly seek out an older woman, then he knows what he wants and you will not have to worry about him leaving you for a younger woman. She cites my father as proof for that. He is a decade her younger and has never once had any interest in any woman his age. When he was a child, he wanted his babysitters. When he was a teenager, he wanted his teachers. When he was an adult, he wanted women who started showing wrinkles. If my mother is like a mature, experienced cat in her prime, then my father is like a small, excited puppy who can never stop harassing her.”
“I’m surprised my videos helped at all if that’s the case. Sounds like they already had the perfect setup for the bedroom.”
“I cannot explain how they helped because I have always refused to listen to talk of what goes on in their bedroom. But whatever your videos did, they now have a an even closer relationship than they did before, which I was not sure was even possible.”
“Honestly, that’s some of the highest praise I’ve ever received. I could retire happily right now after hearing that.”
“Well, should you do that… I make more than enough money to support us both.”
I raised an eyebrow when I heard that. “You trying to say you want me to be a stay-at-home husband or something like that?”
That must have made Thera pretty happy seeing as how I could tell she was smiling just from how her voice sounded as she answered my question. “It may have always been a fantasy of mine seeing as how my mother and father have a similar relationship. I have always wanted what they have… and my mother is the one who makes all the money while my father takes care of the house. I would gladly provide for my husband so long as he cooks for me on the daily.”
“Well, luckily for you, I’m already a stay-at-home guy even while I am working. Gotta love the cushy life of an online content creator. But anyways, I’m curious about something. What’s being a paralegal like?”
“Extremely frustrating, if not only because I am horribly empathetic and suffer vicariously through the others in our company—the lawyers who actually defend our clients.”
“Yeah?”
“We specialize in defense work, you see. Somebody has to genuinely believe that people are innocent until proven guilty, and that is us. We fight until the last second to protect our clients when nobody else will, and it is a thankless job with most calling us the defenders of murders, rapists, pedophiles, thieves, and so on. However, name-calling is not what frustrates us. What frustrates us the most is when our clients refuse to follow our advice and incriminate themselves on the stand. Countless hours of work going into preparing their cases… made worthless in an instant because they say something they weren’t supposed to. That, darling, is why I often come online, immediately queue for the arena, and then spend an hour or so fighting in there before saying anything to you. I would not have you suffer my attitude while so frustrated with work.”
“So, you’re saying that the secret to becoming the best PvPer in the game is working as a paralegal for defense attorneys who work for clients who get themselves in trouble, getting pissed off because of it, and venting your frustrations in PvP?”
“Basically, yes.”
“Understandable. That being said, you just made yourself even cooler. Thera, the older woman who not only acts like a cat on social media and donates to animal shelters, but who also defends the innocent against any accusations they face.”
“It… makes me glad you believe that. Truth be told, I have lied about my work to others before. Everybody glamorizes the prosecution side of things—the ‘good guys’ who throw out viral one-liners and ‘owns’ for the internet to fawn over. They are the ones who put the ‘bad guys’ away. Meanwhile, our side is the one always hated. People send us death threats, they call us what I already mentioned before, they say that we are monsters for defending people who are ‘obviously’ guilty, and so forth. People I used to consider friends abandoned me for such reasons. After the last one told me that he couldn’t be friends with ‘somebody who defends rapists and pedophiles,’ that was the last I ever heard from him.”
“Well, the way I see it… even if you probably do defend some people who are obviously guilty, it’s still work that needs to be done for the sake of a functioning legal system that treats everybody fairly. If somebody truly might be innocent, no matter how small that chance is, then they’re worth fighting for. But I am curious, what made you want that job in the first place?”
“Nothing. I got my education, applied for jobs at various firms without paying much attention to them due to how fried my brain was after college, and then I accepted the first job offer I got. To tell you the truth, once I realized what my own job was, I felt horrible about it. It didn’t help that the first case I worked on was to defend a woman accused of murdering her children. I thought she was guilty throughout the entire case… until my boss—the lawyer representing her, rather masterfully tricked her husband into contradicting himself about a major point. From there, it was like a house of cards fell over all at once, and our client was declared innocent. A year later and the husband was the one found guilty of murdering their children, though we weren’t involved in that case. Ever since then, no matter how guilty one may appear, I have believed in innocent until proven guilty. I will never forget just how happy that woman was for us to believe her and prove her innocence when nobody else would trust her. Now, I would not trade this job for any other, and I plan on continuing in this field until I am no longer able to.”
“Seriously, Thera, you’re way too cool. Seriously, how am I ever supposed to compete with any of that?”
“By learning my favorite meals and making them for me every day.”
“Honestly, if it means that you can continue being such a badass, I’ll be the house husband of your dreams for the rest of my life. Besides, Lily and Akorya can help me out. Don’t forget that we’re a package deal now. Dating me means you’ve got two girlfriends now, too.”
“I… am aware,” Thera said, sounding almost uneasy with that fact.
I tilted my head against her and asked, “Is something wrong?”
“No. It is just that… would they even like somebody like me? I do not feel like I have much I can relate to them with. The same is true of you, but at least I know I can always rely on you for an intellectual discussion. But with them… I fear I could not do that, either, leaving me with nothing to talk to them about.”
“Thera. Did you just call them dumb?”
“I… did not mean it that way, but I cannot deny it sounded like that. What I mean is—”
“Well, they kind of are when compared to you, but so am I. I don’t think they’d ever deny that, either. But the important thing is that they’re more than happy to try. No matter what you want to do with them or talk to them about, they’d be happy to try it our or listen to you. Besides, Lily loves political topics. She could probably talk to you about politics way better than I could. And Akorya? She might dress up how she does in-game, but she’s pretty classy and has a strong appreciation for classic art and music. We’re all dumb compared to you, obviously, but I promise you’ll be able to find shared interests with them. And even if they don’t have any shared interests with you right now, they’d make sure to develop some.”
“That is a relief. However, I would like to make it clear I have never considered them intellectually inferior to me. It is just that when it comes to what we are intelligent in, I assumed there was no overlap.”
“You’re more of a softie than you think, Thera. Especially with these.” I reached my hands behind me and gave her breasts a grope. “Very soft.”
Then, to repay my groping with some teasing of her own… for the first time, Thera reached down to my crotch and gave me a grope over my pants. “And you… are rather hard.”
“I have been this entire time.”
“Is that so?”
“How could I not be when getting held by you like this?”
“Then… perhaps we should do something about—oh. Even saying that is enough to make you throb?”
“Thera, I’ve been waiting to fuck you ever since I met you, and I’m going to continue wanting you around for your company, how cool you are, for how much I love you, and to fuck you some more, afterwards.”
“You do not need to continue reassuring me, darling, though I do appreciate it.”
“Then I’ll keep doing it for as long as you appreciate it. Now, can I have permission to look at you yet?”
While leaving her one hand over my crotch, she used her other hand to turn my head toward her and said, “Permission granted.”
Thera was already in the process of bringing her lips close to me when she said that, so I met her halfway for a kiss while I throbbed some more against her touch.
It was finally time.
