Flin, on the other hand… He rendered her utterly speechless. Unfortunately, she got the distinct impression he didn’t approve of her in the slightest. For some reason, she wanted him to. While it wasn’t unusual for people to completely ignore her, making her wonder sometimes if she perhaps had powers of invisibility, he seemed to be actively ignoring her, not just as though she didn’t exist; there was more to it than that. It was like he’d seen into her soul and found her to be lacking in something. Every time he walked away, she just wanted even more to work out the right thing to do to get him to warm to her. She wondered why she felt that way; why she cared.
* * *
The transport to Commercia Major had been rickety, and Laila was glad to disembark. They’d left The Great Gig in orbit. The temperature on the planet was comfortable, and the whole place was… well, it was totally alien to Laila. Everything was built out of some black glassy material: the buildings, the roads, even the signposts. The stuff they walked on had been roughened so they didn’t slip over. It was so different to Pombos, where the streets were cobbled and the buildings were made from huge gray bricks.
“Look at all those people sitting outside! They’re eating food, but they’re doing it outside!” She pointed to one of the groups of people consuming food.
“Stop that.” Flin grabbed the wrist of her pointed arm and pulled it down. “It’s rude to point. You could get into a lot of trouble.”
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to offend anyone! I’ve just never seen anyone eating outside like that. So many people; it must be a custom!” She felt like an explorer in a strange land, which, she reasoned, she really was.
“It’s quite commonplace on most planets,” Flin said quietly.
“Oh. I didn’t know. What do you suppose those are?” She started to point at the line of gridlocked silver objects, then dropped her hand when she remembered that Flin had just told her not to point. She was sure he hated her.
“Flying cars.” Basil paused and seemed to be trying to put it into words she might understand. “They’re like really tiny spaceships for people to move their families around in.”
“Like very expensive carriages? Without horses? How do they fly? Why are all these people moving? What was wrong with where they started?” she asked.
“Nothing, but they probably live in one place and work someplace else,” Basil explained.
“There seems to be so many people going in both directions, why don’t they just swap houses with each other?”
“Because they like their house and they like their job, and they wouldn’t want their boss to see what they do after work.” Flin sounded irritated.
“Where are we going?”
“Did you give her cupcakes again this morning, Basil?”
“No, I think she’s just excited. Chill out.”
Laila tried to ignore Flin. She saw something on the other side of the road and ran out into the stream of flying cars, ignorant of the traffic. Something pulled her off her feet by the scruff of her dress, moving her back to safety, and she was turned to face Flin. He held her easily in one hand, and still towered over her. She’d heard him say he was seven foot three inches tall; how was that even a height?
“That was dangerous.” He deposited her back on the glassy pavement.
“I’m sorry, the flying cars all seemed so high, I thought they’d just fly over me!”
“Underneath them’s incredibly hot. Hold my hand, please, Laila, and don’t wander off,” Basil said.
Laila took Basil’s hand, feeling guilty for causing Flin the inconvenience of having to catch her, and wondering what he was going to do when they weren’t in public. Gar-Kon would have screamed a riot about her doing something like that. She remembered the time she’d accidentally tripped over a cobblestone when they’d been walking somewhere. He had stopped two passersby to ask if they thought it was possible to trip over that stone by accident, and when they shrugged and walked off, he had assumed they were agreeing that Laila must have done it on purpose. There were so many times like that, first with her mother and then with Gar-Kon, and Laila’s mother had always brought it back to one fundamental truth: Laila was too stupid for words. Now these two men who had been helping her were beginning to see just how stupid she was, Laila thought, and then they’d quickly get sick of her and they would take her back to Pombos and leave her there. It was inevitable, when she thought about it.
She followed them in silence as the three of them went into a giant mall. Both sides of the wide atrium were lined with shops. Shining window displays held beautiful things arranged around mannequins.
“Keep an eye out for some things you might want to wear every day; you can choose three outfits for yourself,” Basil said.
Laila didn’t like this idea at all.
“Really? Are you sure? Everything here looks like it costs a lot of money.” There was no way she could afford any of this stuff. Or were they paying? Was it even remotely polite to ask? Even if they were, she worried that they might hold it over her, that they’d bought her things; what would she have to do to repay them? Would they demand the money for the things they’d bought her, when they tired of her and took her home?
“Don’t worry, we got it,” Flin said. “You can’t wash your dress if you don’t have others to change into.”
Laila didn’t have an answer to that, so she just shrugged. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but she was concerned that they would think she owed them.
“Hey, cheer up, little miss. You must be the only girl in the Allied Galaxies who isn’t excited to be taken shopping,” Basil said.
“I’m sorry,” Laila said automatically.
“Don’t you like getting new clothes?” Basil asked.
“Uh…” Laila was stuck for words again. Of course she liked getting new clothes, she wanted to say, but she hated what always came after anything like this: the recriminations, the accusations of ingratitude, then the inevitable point when the clothes would get taken away again—or they’d get destroyed in front of her—on the grounds that she hadn’t done something or other, or hadn’t done it the right way. The white dress she wore hadn’t always been her only item of clothing. She didn’t dare explain any of this to them, but she wasn’t going to play this game publicly, for them to just use the fact they’d brought her shopping as leverage later when they wanted something. Never again did she intend to be indebted like that.
Standing rooted to the spot, not knowing how to say all this without making them angry, Laila started to hyperventilate as she stared at a fixed point on the floor. She saw Flin tap Basil on the arm, then he crouched down to her level.
“Laila, we are buying clothes for you. You are going to let us do that. You are going to choose three outfits that you can wear. If you don’t choose three outfits while we’re here, we will choose for you. Either way, you are getting clothes. Do you understand me?” Flin looked straight into her eyes. Laila swooned a little. His gorgeous pink eyes seemed to utterly distract her from her worries, but she recovered enough to nod her head.
“Yes, I understand,” she said, then added, “Sorry.”
A half hour later, she had found a frilly emerald top with a high neck that she loved, and a long pair of black leggings to match. Outfit number two was another pair of black leggings, these ones were printed with little stars, and Laila paired them with a long gray button-down shirt and more socks.
“Two down, one to go,” Flin commented under his breath to Basil. Laila heard him, but said nothing. She still couldn’t decide to dislike him. There was something about him that she was drawn to, and he had known the right things to say to get her to stop stressing about this shopping trip. Not to mention the fact that he had paid for half the purchases so far, with Basil covering the rest of the cost. She knew she should be grateful for that, but past experience told her that nobody did anything for her without expecting something in return.
“Ooh, that’s so pretty!” Laila stopped in front of a
window display that contained the single sexiest princess dress that she had ever seen. It was wonderful, in sleek, thick red satin down to the floor with a halter neck that plunged to its waistline, showing off a lot of boob. It was finished with sparkly iridescent beads that had been arranged to draw attention to the cleavage. Laila turned away. This wasn’t what they were here for.
“Pretty expensive. Maybe as a birthday present… if I find a goldmine ‘tween now and then,” Basil said.
Flin was still looking at the dress; apparently he was quite taken with it too, because he leaned down and murmured in her ear, “With your figure, you’d be wearing that for all of ten seconds before I’d have to unwrap you.”
Laila colored red and she looked up in surprise. Flin’s pink eyes were locked on hers and she couldn’t hide her shy smile at the image of the huge half-elf removing her clothes. Her pussy throbbed and she realized he found her attractive. Surprise turned to embarrassment as she didn’t know how to respond, and it gave way to a slightly awkward silence while Laila tried to get her temperature under control.
“You’d look lovely in this.” Basil was at the next shop window, where Laila turned to see an adorable blue sailor dress trimmed with white lace at the bottom of the very short rah-rah skirt. It had an embroidered anchor dead center near the top, and was fastened with a white ribbon in a halter-neck style. The red dress forgotten, Laila ran to the window with the sailor dress and put both hands flat on the glass, either side of her face.
“It’s so pretty,” she sighed. There wasn’t a price, so they went inside to find out, and she tried it on in the changing rooms. Laila removed her white petticoat and slipped the sailor dress over her head. The fabric stretched. She tied it into a bow behind her neck and looked at herself in the mirror. It was such a happy dress. She wiggled her hips and the blue skirt frothed its white lacy petticoat around her, barely covering her bottom.
“Need help with the ribbon?” Basil called from the shop floor. Laila timidly pulled the curtain just enough so she could see out. Basil and Flin were both waiting nearby for her.
“Come on out and give us a twirl.” Basil had a look in his eye; was it concern? What was like concern but happier? Caringness. Laila decided Basil looked caring.
Shyly, she came out from behind the curtain and stood in front of them.
There was a sharp intake of breath from both men.
“You look like a princess in your beautiful sailor dress. I’m getting that for you as an extra present; it doesn’t count toward your three outfits. Want to wear it for the rest of the day?” Basil asked, then Laila surprised even herself by running to him and throwing her arms around his neck, pressing her head against his chest.
“Yes, please, thank you, it’s wonderful, I love it so much!” she babbled, and she stayed there for a long minute while he stroked her hair. This dress made her feel so light and carefree.
“That dress needs matching socks,” Basil said, gently turning Laila toward a display of socks and other things that looked like they were made for legs. He picked a pair of white socks. The picture on the packet showed that they came to just over the knee, and they had a pattern of little holes in them all around.
“What about these socks?” Laila held out a pair of almost opaque white ones with an embroidered anchor at the top.
“They’re stockings, you’ll need something to stop them falling down,” Basil said.
“Garter belt.” Flin passed one to her. Basil scrutinized it in Laila’s hands before giving a nod of approval. She saw that it was made of white lacy fabric that felt very soft to her fingers. It had four dangling legs with clips at the ends. She hoped Basil would help her put it on since it looked so complicated. He kept hold of the white socks he’d chosen, as well.
“Let’s get this paid for, then we need to get on with finding you another everyday outfit, little lady,” Basil said. Laila nodded. She had warmed to this whole shopping expedition as the day had worn on. They stopped for lunch at a soup vending machine before resuming the search for clothes.
“What are those blue pants? The shape makes the girl’s legs look so long in the picture!” Laila showed Basil and Flin the shop window she’d spotted.
“Earth Retro? That’s a fashion store now? Talk about cultural appropriation. I bet their head office is on a Prime planet.” Basil shook his head with a resigned smile. Laila didn’t know what he meant, but he went inside with her anyway.
“These are the pants in the window!” Laila got excited and showed them to Basil and Flin.
“Skinny jeans,” Flin read. “They look quite tight. I like them. They’ll show off the curves of your ass.”
“Yes, they will, and I’m not so happy about my little girl walking around with her panty line on show. You’ll need a long top to go with those jeans,” Basil said. Did Laila just see Flin glare at Basil? She thought they were the best of friends. As he’d suggested, she skipped around the store to find a long top.
“Is this okay?” She was waving a purple top on a hanger. It got wider toward the hem and she was pleased to find a pocket in each seam near the bottom. She held it up against her. It was slightly longer than the sailor dress.
“Perfect,” Basil said, with an encouraging smile. Flin looked less than thrilled with it, and Laila’s face fell slightly.
“I suppose I’ll get some work done if I can’t stare at your sexy bottom every day,” he conceded, winking at her. She brightened up again at once. Maybe he did like her after all, she thought.
Then she saw the most amazing pair of shoes she’d ever seen in her life. Ignoring Basil and Flin, she ran across the store to the shoe display. She picked up a pair and examined them from all angles before hugging them to her chest.
“Let’s see the sneakers,” Basil said, when he and Flin caught up with her.
Laila showed him, a quiet smile shining through her face.
“I’ve never seen shoes like this before,” she marveled. “They’re so pretty but so comfy looking!”
“Sneakers. You’ll need to try them on,” Flin observed. After a couple of attempts, they worked out the correct size and Laila was walking around in a pair of black sneakers with wide pink sparkly laces and pink glittery stars printed on the sides. They felt so light to walk in, but so squishy and supportive. It was like walking on clouds of unicorn fluff.
“I had no idea there were so many versions of clothing,” Laila said as they paid for her last everyday outfit.
“We haven’t even gone into any of the shops for different anatomies,” Flin said. “For example, I’m seven foot three, so I would have to shop in stores that made clothes for people of my height. Then there’s other species who have more arms and legs than humanoids.”
Laila shook her head in disbelief.
On their way out of the mall, Flin stopped them at a store filled only with shiny, smooth clothing. Basil looked uncomfortable surrounded by mysteriously shiny black fabric, but Flin was more animated than Laila had seen him all day.
“This would suit you.” He pulled something off the rail and held it out over her, to check the height. The pants were a bit too long so he looked for another one. It looked to Laila like a one-piece suit made of some shiny fabric, a bit thinner and a lot shinier than leather, that she could stretch to wear. There was no backing to the material, and she wasn’t entirely sure it was even made of fabric; there were no stitch marks or seams. She put it on and went out to show the men.
“When you press it here, it tightens.” Flin demonstrated by pressing the neckline in a certain place, and Laila felt the fabric getting tighter around her.
“What’s happening? It’s going to suffocate me if you keep doing that!” she cried. Flin shook his head, smiling.
“It’s okay, Laila, it’s perfectly safe. It’s a smart material called Syntex; Synthetic Latex. It works because the bonds between the molecules shorten, making it look and feel a little tighter, but it’s got a cut-off point; that’s why they make them in
different sizes. When you tap this part, it loosens again so you can get in and out of it,” Flin explained.
“I thought latex was banned by the Intergalactic Treaty on Common Toxins and Allergens. You know, like lead, mercury, and peanuts,” Basil frowned.
“It is. That’s why clothing manufacturers invented Syntex. It looks, acts, and feels like latex, but it’s one hundred percent latex free, and it’s easier to put on and take off. It’s safe for everyone to wear. It can even detect your internal body pressure so it knows when it’s getting too tight.”
“Impressive. I see there’s also a zip in a most inappropriate location.” Basil raised an eyebrow at Flin.
“I like what I like,” Flin replied. “How does the catsuit feel now you’ve been in it for a little while, Laila?”
Laila was surprised to notice that, while she’d been focusing on Flin and Basil’s conversation, she’d gotten quite comfortable in the Syntex catsuit. The way it held her tightly, like a giant hug, made her feel safer somehow, like it was protecting her from the outside world. She particularly liked how shiny it was.
“It feels… comfy,” she remarked, as Basil went for a wander to the front of the store.
“Great. Take it off then and I’ll buy it for you, on one condition—I decide when you wear it. I could do very naughty things to a specific young lady wearing an outfit like that.” Flin stood behind her so she could see everything in the mirror when he put his huge hands on her average-sized breasts. Laila sighed in surprise. It felt so good to be touched there, and seeing herself in the mirror, watching Flin touch her like that, made her clit twitch. She had to admit, the Syntex catsuit was making her boobs look beautifully rounded and firm. Flin pressed the right place, and the fabric gently loosened until it looked as though it would easily come off. Laila suddenly felt vulnerable again, and remembered the last time a man had shown an interest in her. Sideswiped by a bad memory, she zoned out for a couple of minutes while the past dragged her under its current.
Her Daddy and Her Master Page 4