Against his will, Alex looked down, toward the small patch of pubic hair between her legs. He’d seen this several times, but it still surprised him to know that her hair was naturally silver.
Gabrielle tilted her head. “Why?”
“Don’t ask why and just do it! Never mind. I’ll do it myself.”
Alex pushed her back into the changing room, grabbed the curtains, and shut them before Gabrielle could say anything else. His face hadn’t felt this hot since Gabrielle had slept naked with him, which consequently happened every night. He still had yet to figure out how she sneaked past his locked door.
He squeezed his eyes shut as if to block out the memory of a naked Gabrielle. It was no use. The glimpse he’d just received was enough to fuel his imagination to new heights. His mind’s eye envisioned it, Gabrielle bereft of clothes, her soft body the most magnificent sight he’d ever seen, her perky chest and beautiful pink nipples, and the small patch of trim silver hair between her thighs, so wonderfully crafted it was as if a god had decided to create her in an attempt to show this universe what perfection was.
“Oh-ho! Seems like someone is getting hot and bothered in here.”
Alex stiffened as a voice bounced around inside of his head. It was the same voice he’d been hearing for around a month now. It was a voice he associated with that strange, red power that came out of him during times of duress. This voice had been speaking a lot more lately.
Oddly enough, the voice sounded female, though it contained a demonic growl that he wouldn’t associate with a human.
“I wonder if I should give you a hand… there are ways of taking care of this sticky predicament, you know…”
Please don’t….
“What’s this? Begging? How disgusting. A real man wouldn’t beg someone for anything, especially not when the offer is so pleasant. A real man would take a woman up on her offer. Just for that, I should—”
“I believe that is quite enough,” said another voice inside of his mind. Alex blinked. That had sounded like his voice, but it was not Alex who had spoken.
“You again? How many times are you going to ruin my fun?!”
“As many times as it takes to make you stop. You shouldn’t even be awake anyway.”
“Neither should you! Now, why don’t you go back and—hey! What are you doing?! Stop! Don’t! Stop it!!”
The voices vanished like a fading echo. Alex felt his head throb as if the remnants of their presence had brought unbearable pressure onto his skull.
What’s up with those voices?
While they didn’t appear often, Alex had been hearing them more and more. At first, it was just the one with the dark voice, the female whose lustful overtones sent chills down his spine, but lately, he’d been hearing the voice, too. While the first one sounded like the epitome of a female villain, the other was male and sounded almost like him—an incredibly pure version of him, but still him.
“Alex, can I come out now?” Gabrielle’s voice intruded on his thoughts.
“You’re not coming out undressed, are you?”
“No, I’m dressed.”
“Oh, good.” Alex breathed a sigh of relief. “Then yes, you can come out.”
“Kay.”
He heard the sound of rustling curtains and turned around. Gabrielle stood, thankfully dressed. She wore a pink skirt that wrapped tightly around her hips and a strapless black top that only covered part of her breasts, leaving plenty of her cleavage exposed. A jacket the same color as her hair had been thrown over her shoulders. Her long, pointed ears wiggled back and forth, while her wings flapped a bit as though getting used to the skirt that caressed the point where they protruded from the flesh of her lower back. Similarly, because the shirt wasn’t made with wings in mind, it kept lifting up, revealing her sides and flat stomach.
“What do you think?” Gabrielle asked. “Do you like it?”
Alex wasn’t sure how to respond, but respond he did. “Yeah… you look really, um, nice in that.”
“Isn’t she hot? Don’t you just want to push her against the wall, rip her clothes off, and screw her brains out?”
The voice came back. Alex clenched his fists and tried not to tremble. He then blinked when a loud noise echoed through his mind followed by a yelp. If he didn’t know any better, he would’ve said that it sounded like someone just had their face slammed into a wall.
“Yay!” Gabrielle threw her fist into the air. “This is the first time I’ve picked any clothes myself. Selene and Ryoko are always choosing my clothes. I’m glad you like them.”
He didn’t think “like” was the appropriate word. They were arousing, but that was all. He didn’t have the heart to tell her otherwise.
“What the heck are you wearing?” Selene asked as she and Alice finally walked over to them.
“Ah! Selene! What do you think?” Grinning, Gabrielle moved around in a circle to show off her outfit, which consequently caused her skirt to swish around... which caused Alex to look away when he glimpsed her panties. White cotton. “Isn’t it cool?”
“Um, no, it’s not cool.” Selene’s lips slowly turned into a frown.
Gabrielle’s ears drooped. “What? But I thought this outfit was totally cool.”
“Where did you get your sense of fashion from? A hooker?” Selene questioned with blunt honesty.
At the dark-skinned girl’s harsh assessment, Gabrielle’s wings drooped alongside her ears. Alex wondered how wings could be so emotive. Those and her ears were more expressive than any face he’d ever seen.
“I… I was just getting clothes that Ryoko told me I’d look good in. She said I had great assets, so I should flaunt them.” Gabrielle paused. “By the way, does anyone know what kind of assets she was talking about?”
Pressing a hand to her face, Selene had never looked more annoyed. “Ryoko… I should have known.”
“Are my clothes really that bad?” Gabrielle asked.
“They are,” Selene said, sighing. “Come on, I’ll help you pick out some actually nice clothes.”
“Really?” Gabrielle perked up.
“Really.” Selene nodded.
“Yay!”
As Gabrielle cheered, Selene looked at Alex. “You wait here while I help Gabrielle find something more suitable to wear.”
Alex had no problem with this. Actually, this probably worked out for the better. He didn’t know the first thing about fashion.
“Okay. I’ll do that. Thank you.”
Selene smiled. “There’s no need to thank me. I couldn’t let a travesty like bad fashion happen to a friend.”
“Right. Oh!” Alex snapped his fingers as though remembering something. “Make sure you get clothes that can accommodate her wings.”
“Right.”
Waving him off, Selene led Gabrielle deeper into the clothing store.
7
“The first thing you need to know about clothes is color,” Selene lectured as she and Gabrielle walked down an aisle lined with clothing racks. “You want colors that are going to compliment you. For you, since your hair is silver, that means choosing clothing with lighter colors—oh, but you don’t want to choose anything gaudy like that hot pink skirt. That wouldn’t look good on you.”
“I see. You know an awful lot about clothing,” Gabrielle said, quite impressed with her friend’s knowledge. Selene must have been a clothing expert or something.
“This is basic clothes shopping 101. Every girl should know this.” Selene frowned at Gabrielle. “To be honest, I was still shocked when I first found out that you knew nothing of fashion. I know you said that your father never really let you go out, but didn’t he at least let you choose what to wear?”
Gabrielle had gone shopping with Selene, Ryoko, and Sarah several times, but she had never actually chosen her own outfits. She’d just sort of followed the other three and let them choose outfits for her.
“No. Pappa never let me pick out my own clothes,” Gabrielle admitted. “My
maids were always the one who bought clothes for me, and they were also the ones who told me what I’d be wearing that day. They kept saying it was too dangerous for me to leave the palace.”
“That sounds like a tough situation,” Selene said, then paused. “Wait. Palace?”
“You think so?” Gabrielle asked. “I never really thought about it, but yeah, I guess it was hard. I didn’t like that I couldn’t go out. That’s why I was always running away.”
Selene shook her head. “You’re the only person I know who would be so blasé about running away from home.”
“Tee-hee!”
“I still can’t believe your father is so strict. So you weren’t even allowed to leave your home at all?”
Selene looked through several outfits, holding them up to Gabrielle as if checking to see what they would look like. Gabrielle stood there while her friend did this. The clothing that Selene grabbed looked a lot plainer than the stuff Ryoko said would look good on her, but she decided to trust in her friend’s judgement.
As Selene grabbed several more outfits, Gabrielle answered the girl’s question. “Papa didn’t like me traveling outside for any reason, so the only times I got to see the outside world was when he would have me meet with suitors or people who wanted me to build weapons for them.”
“Huh? Weapons?”
“That’s part of the reason I love living here on Mars,” Gabrielle admitted. “This is the first time I’ve ever had the freedom to do what I want. It’s a wonderful experience, and it’s even better because I get to make friends and spend time with Alex.”
“Alex… he really means alot to you, doesn’t he?”
“I love Alex very much.”
Selene shook her head. “I don’t know how you can say that so readily.”
“What do you mean? Don’t you love Alex, too?”
Selene’s eyes went wide. “W-what… n-no… I mean, Alex and I are just friends. E-even if I did have feelings for him, I don’t see how it would matter. He has you, so he doesn’t really need me.”
“What are you talking about?” Gabrielle laughed at Selene’s silly comment. “I don’t see how me being in love with Alex has anything to do with you loving him as well. If you love someone, then you should tell them.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“If I make it sound simple, then that’s because it is simple.”
“Even if you say that…”
“Do you love Alex?”
“I… I don’t not love him, but…”
“If you love Alex, let him know. If you confess your feelings to him, then I’m sure he’ll accept them. He’s not the kind of person who would turn away someone’s feelings, especially someone he’s so close to. Don’t worry! I’ll support you.”
They were in the pants section now. All around her, Gabrielle could see nothing but pants in different makes, cuts, brands, and colors. She had no idea there were so many different kinds of one type of clothing. Was this something strictly limited to humans, or was this something that all species did?
Mama and Papa always made me wear dresses.
“Are you really sure you should be saying that?” Selene asked as she looked through the selection of clothing. “You just said that you would support someone confessing their feelings to the guy you love. Shouldn’t you be more worried that I might steal him away?”
Gabrielle laughed. “What are you talking about? I’m just supporting a friend confess her feelings to the person she likes. That’s what friends do, isn’t it? They support each other.”
When someone that you liked was in trouble, you helped them. When a friend needed help confessing to the person they liked, you supported them. To Gabrielle, that was what it meant to be a friend.
“While friends do support each other, that doesn’t happen when they’re both after the same guy,” Selene stated as if it should have been obvious.
“They don’t?” Gabrielle tilted her head. “Why not?”
“T-they just don’t, okay? I don’t know anybody who would support someone who likes the same guy as them. It just doesn’t happen.”
Gabrielle felt herself scowl. The idea that there might have been people like that, people who didn’t support their friends, made her upset. How someone could willingly not support the people they cared about was beyond her.
“Then maybe those people aren’t very good friends. I would always support my friends no matter what their endeavor is. Whether it’s confessing to the person they like or jumping off a cliff with nothing but a jetpack that doesn’t work, I will always support them.”
“Jumping off with a cliff with a broken jetpack?”
“It’s a long story.” Gabrielle waved off Selene’s questioning look. “The point is that you should always support your friends no matter what. What’s the point of being friends with someone if you aren’t willing to support each other?”
“You…” Selene shook her head. She grabbed something from one of the racks. Gabrielle didn’t see what it was, but the color was a lot plainer than what Ryoko dressed her up in. “You make it really hard for someone to dislike you when you say things like that.”
“Huh?”
“... Nothing. Anyway, Alex and I really are just friends. I don’t have any feelings for him.”
“Well… if you say so.”
“I do say so. Now, come on. I’ve got several cute outfits chosen. Let’s go back to the changing room and get you dressed in them. I’m sure Alex will be blown away by how cute you are.”
“Okay!”
Leading the way, Gabrielle forgot all about her conversation with Selene.
There were clothes to try on.
8
Jameson de Truante was a man on a mission.
Jasmine had returned from wherever she’d disappeared to two weeks ago, and she’d been in quite the foul mood. Jameson had ignored her for a time, like he always did, but her mood eventually became unbearable.
After asking Madison about it and receiving the cold shoulder, he’d asked his little sister directly. He didn’t care about her. However, her foul mood had been killing his mojo.
Her proceeding rant had surprised him.
That beautiful girl that he’d fallen in love with at first sight, the one known as Gabrielle, had apparently gone to Mars Homespring Resort with none other than that wretched plebeian, Alexander S. Ryker.
Just thinking about what that slovenly peasant might have been doing to his Gabrielle set him off. He could only imagine the foul and loathsome things that Alexander had made Gabrielle do for him, like hand feeding him grapes, or giving him a shoulder massage. He might have even made Gabrielle wash his body with her breasts! Those breasts were his! Not Alexander’s! His!
I cannot let this stand!
That was why he’d come all the way to the shopping district. He had been asking around during school, and he’d heard a rumor that Gabrielle was going to be shopping with Selene Metronome today. Apparently, someone had seen Selene and Gabrielle talking about this a few days ago when they were visiting the Metronome Sweetshop.
Jameson did not know why Gabrielle would spend time with someone like Selene. She was pretty, certainly, but her beauty couldn’t match up to the divine exquisiteness of Gabrielle. That silver hair, that fair complexion, and that magnificent body, all of it was bewitching beyond human comprehension. Only someone like him, whose masculine handsomeness had earned him the title King of Handsomeness, deserved to be with her.
Standing in the middle of a plaza, Jameson waited for Gabrielle to exit the store. This time, he didn’t plan on observing from a distance. No, this time, he planned on talking to her directly.
The store that Gabrielle had gone into looked like an average retail clothier. It was a large building made of plasteel. Gray and drab, with only a single large sign to let people know what they sold, this store offered nothing in the way of aesthetic appeal.
Clothing stores were a dime a dozen on Mars City. Because t
here were so many different types of fashion, and because a lot of people enjoyed shopping, the only thing that was more popular than shopping was the virtual reality arcades, which literally littered the entertainment district.
Jameson didn’t know how long he’d been standing there, but eventually, Gabrielle left the retail store. It seemed that his info had been correct. Unfortunately, Gabrielle wasn’t alone. Walking alongside her were Selene, Alice, and Alex.
It looked like they’d done quite a bit of shopping. Alex was carrying multiple shopping bags as they walked out of the store.
Now is my chance.
Jameson began to make his way over to the girl of his dreams.
9
“Thank you for taking me shopping, Alex,” Gabrielle said as she and everyone else left the store.
Alex grinned as he carried the bags filled with her clothing. “You’re welcome.”
Mars City was busy during this time of day. It was the weekend, so a lot of people were roaming about outside, wandering the city walkways. Alex, carrying the bags, made sure to stick close to the three girls.
Gabrielle was wearing her new clothes, a light pink shirt with short sleeves, a black skirt that stopped at mid-thigh, and a silver jacket with a short hem that stopped just below her breasts. The jacket was unzipped. She was wearing a pair of white boots that stopped at her knees.
“Ah! That was so much fun.” Gabrielle stretched her arms above her head and beamed.
“You call it fun. I call it troublesome.”
Alex looked at his sister, who walked with slouched shoulders and a slovenly gate. Her eyes retained their half-lidded, bored look. She hadn’t changed expressions since their shopping excursion started.
“Everything’s troublesome to you.”
“Not everything, just the stuff that involves me doing something I don’t want to do.”
“That’s a pretty harsh thing to say, especially since you still have homework to do. You’re not gonna be allowed to watch Titan Girls until it’s finished.”
Alice gave him a lazy glare. “You’re cruel, Big Bro.”
A Most Unlikely Hero, Vol 4 Page 4