A Date With Angel and Other Things ...

by J. Judkins

  “What?” asked Kim.

  “I said, I’ve found you at last! You were a fool to--”

  “Yeah, we got that part,” Stacy interrupted. “Who are you supposed to be, Angel?”

  "I was going to ask what," put in Kim.

  “I was an assassin in your employ for years, until the day you sent me to destroy the family of your greatest rival. Kim wasn’t born into the family and I didn’t feel like killing her, so I spared her life. For reasons of her own, she joined the group. You sent a second team. I believed they were sent after me to punish me for my failure. After killing them, I decided to use Kim for her knowledge to have my revenge against you. Over time we fell in love, and she--”

  “Wait. Could you repeat that?” asked Stacy.

  Angel glared at her, but complied, “I was an assassin in your employ for years. You sent me to destroy the family of your greatest rival, and Kim was the only survivor. After you tried to kill me, I decided to protect her, instead. We fell in love, and--”

  “She fell in love with someone who murdered her entire family?” Stacy demanded.

  “Not at first! Her plan was to turn the assassin against her enemies by attempting to seduce him. Or seduce her. It depends. Kim could have joined the assassin’s team via an uneasy alliance, if the assassin proved to be uninterested in her as a possible romantic option. In my case, however, I was interested in her. There were hardships--”

  Stacy looked hopelessly confused. “What?”

  Angel finally broke character. “I didn’t write the stupid thing!”

  “Was the assassin male or female?” asked Stacy. “It sounded as if you changed your mind in the middle.”

  “I’m the assassin,” said Angel.

  Kim cleared her throat. “The assassin character is whatever the player chooses to be,” she said to Stacy, then to Angel, “You’re recreating a scene from a roleplaying video game, aren’t you?”

  "Is this what you wanted me for?” demanded Stacy of Angel. “Don’t involve me in your sex games!"

  "What?” Kim twisted around to Stacy once again. “I said video game, not sex game!"

  Angel cleared her throat. "In a way, Stacy is correct. As the instigator, I am playing the main character and Kim is playing the part of a non-playing character and potential romantic interest. It is assumed by this point we have spent most of our time together gathering experience through combat and solving missions while periodically upgrading our gear and flirting with each other on a semi-regular basis.

  “After confronting the boss and your own timely rescue,” Angel continued, inclining her head towards Kim, “sex is achieved to mutual satisfaction followed by declarations of love. There is a plot twist and final confrontation with the true villain, but we don’t need to go that far."

  "Wait, isn’t love supposed to be before the sex?" asked Stacy.

  "You’re not helping!" Kim redoubled her efforts on escaping her bonds.

  "From what I’ve determined, there are three main consequences to sex,” said Angel. “Children, sexually transmitted diseases, and love. In relationships, love is an unplanned side effect. Sex is the goal."

  "It isn’t supposed to be like that," Kim cried, exasperated. "People should love each other before having sex."

  "I’ve done extensive research, and that isn’t the pattern I’ve observed. Sex between two people is often without love." Angel’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I suspect you’re employing a delaying tactic."

  "Who, me?” Kim tried to look innocent but failed. “Why would I be delaying? Shouldn’t I be looking forward to it, like the character in the game?"

  “Some of your personality traits closely resemble those of the character in the game. That’s why I chose it. Both are reluctant to the point of aversion. Both are inexplicably romantically drawn to the hero. Both try to deny it, and both have the ability to draw unique conclusions out of thin air that have little to do with the reality of the situation.”

  “What has that got to do with me?” Kim asked.

  “It does not suit your character to openly desire it. Your ‘shyness’ and ‘embarrassment’ get in the way while I constantly work to overcome them.”

  "This has been fun, but you don’t need me,” said Stacy, “so I’m going to leave, now."

  The sword dipped and flicked at Stacy, as if to remind her of its presence in case she'd somehow forgotten about it. It was also a rather impressive display of strength, considering Angel had accomplished it one-handed with a sword Kim doubted she could have lifted. "No. You are the villain. You’re going to stay right where you are! I’m going defeat you."

  "But I didn’t do anything. You’re the one that kidnapped her!" Stacy waved the gun at Kim for emphasis. Kim squealed and ducked her head, attempting to turn away.

  Angel began to circle, her sword never wavering. "You will not threaten her! Your fight is with me, villain!"

  "Stacy, what are you doing?" Kim cried. “Don’t wave that thing at me!"

  "Oh, relax. It’s probably not even loaded." Stacy took a moment to aim at one of the closed windows and gently squeezed the trigger.

  The gun roared, and the window shattered. No one spoke over the sound of glass raining to the floor.

  "Or maybe it is.” Stacy held the gun out at arm’s length, as if fearful it might go off again.

  "What the hell, Angel!” Kim shrieked. “Seriously! What the hell? Why did you give her a loaded gun?"

  Angel stopped her circling and adopted her frustrated and annoyed expression. "That gun is the villain’s preferred weapon. She has to have it. How could there be a satisfying final confrontation with the villain if the villain isn’t even armed?”

  “What makes you think you could win a gunfight armed with a sword?” Kim demanded.

  “My character routinely won his fights armed with only a sword and the occasional use of high explosives. In addition, I have discovered I possess the ability to predict bullet trajectories with 99.982 percent accuracy.”

  “You may be able to predict it,” said Kim, “but that doesn’t mean you have the reflexes to do anything about it.”

  “Your opinion is noted. I admit, my ability to dodge bullets effectively has yet to be conclusively determined, but if you take into account Stacy’s apparent lack of skill--"

  “Hey!” protested Stacy.

  "I anticipate defeating her with a minimum of effort," Angel finished.

  "I’m not going to start shooting at you so you can feel justified in taking my head off!"

  “Wait!” cried Kim. "Nobody kill anyone! Angel, you probably didn’t know, but there was a patch for that game. They changed it. The original storyline was considered too extreme for young players."

  "Young players?” scoffed Angel. “There aren’t supposed to be any young players. The game is designed to be rated M for mature."

  "Not all of it was changed, just some of it,” Kim lied. “Anyway, you don’t have to kill the villain in the latest version. Not anymore."

  “This game isn’t even out yet,” groused Angel.

  Kim blinked. That certainly explained why she wasn’t even remotely familiar with it.

  Angel’s sword wavered. "But in any case, Stacy isn’t going to die. I’m only going to kill her symbolically," she said, looking supremely disappointed.

  "That's good. Symbolically is good," agreed Stacy.

  "What about me?" Kim asked.

  “Naturally, the love scene would be real."

  Stacy visibly recoiled. "And you’re involving me in this?"

  "Are you insane?” demanded Kim. “We couldn’t do anything like that with her watching!"

  "After her symbolic death, Stacy would not be conscious."

  "WHAT?" Stacy shrieked.

  Kim turned her head. "You should run," she whispered.

  "No!" Angel drove a third of the sword's blade into the floor. "The villain isn’t supposed to run!"

  "The villain runs when she wants to." With elaborate care, Stacy
placed the gun at her feet then sprinted for the main door, the one Angel had used for her entrance.

  Angel jerked the sword out of the concrete. For an instant, she looked torn, visibly debating going after Stacy with a sour expression on her face.

  Then the moment passed. She did nothing to stop her.

  "Wait!" Kim cried after her. "Do you know what she’s going to do to me?"

  "I have an idea!" Stacy called back. "The two of you have fun!"

  The door slammed on her way out.

  Kim twisted anew in her chair. "Coward! Traitor!"

  The silence that followed was deafening. She couldn’t see Angel from her new position, but she could hear her walking up to her, imagining her with a self-satisfied grin on her face.

  Angel walked into view. Her sword was casually propped over one shoulder, apparently none the worse for wear after being brutally driven into the hard concrete floor. "Now that Stacy is dead, no one can interfere,” she said.

  "She’s not dead. She ran away."

  "Now that Stacy ran away, no one can interfere," Angel amended.

  "What if the screen just fades to black, and the audience just assumes we’re busy having sex?"

  Angel shook her head. "No. The audience would feel justifiably cheated if that happened. It’s assumed they’ve spent long hours playing the game and deserve a decent love scene at the very least. Besides, if we’re faithful to the original content, there is no ‘fade to black’."

  "I’m not saying this isn’t romantic, kidnapping us and threatening to butcher Stacy with a sword, but isn’t this whole scenario a bit extreme?”

  "I have noticed you are indifferent to the ordinary and attracted to the unusual. Your initial attraction to me was wholly based on the unusual nature of our meeting. My physical appearance was not a deciding factor. If you had met me in a normal situation, you would have passed me by. Any sexual attraction you now feel is due to my unusual nature and personality."

  Kim opened her mouth to disagree, then realized Angel had given her a fairly accurate assessment. For all her life, she’d never been truly attracted to anyone, male or female. She simply didn’t much care for it. If she hadn’t thought alien in the first few minutes of meeting Angel, she would have ignored her.

  Angel lay down the sword and started untying her. Kim’s mind raced, trying to see a way out, but she didn’t see even a glimmer of one.

  "Wait, is that what you’ve been doing all this time? This entire week? Planning this?"

  "Yes. All for you. Happy anniversary."

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You told the government agent it was nearly time for our anniversary. Stacy was less helpful in explaining, but how far away could an anniversary be?”

  “You’re a bit early, Angel.”

  “How early?”

  “Oh, only by eleven and a half months.”

  “I’m unfamiliar with your calendar. Is this a long time?”

  Kim gave her an exasperated look. “No, it’s practically around the corner.”

  “Good. I’d hate to think I was rushing things.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  The last of the ropes fell away. The moment Kim was free she attempted to stand, but her legs were asleep from sitting in place for too long and she didn’t go anywhere. Angel scooped her up and carried her deeper into the building. There were two doors at the far wall. She carried Kim towards the closest.

  Kim kept trying to convince herself she was doomed, but feared her heart was hammering in something other than panic.

  Any other geek would love to be in her position. There she was, a perfectly ordinary woman minding her own business when a genuine space alien dropped into her life. Then things started to happen, one thing lead to another, and she found herself practically married to the alien before the first commercial break.

  Could that be it? Did Angel’s entire plan center on getting Kim into bed as soon as possible? The very idea of it seemed ridiculous. Romantic, devious, kind of sweet and twisted, but still, ridiculous.

  There had to be some part of the puzzle she hadn’t considered, something that would make sense of Angel's behavior. Wasn't she supposed to be out evaluating Earth's defenses? Had she really forgotten all about it?

  Or maybe Angel took her background story very, very seriously?

  Perhaps Angel thought she'd feel cheated if she finished her mission and spent all this time roleplaying a girlfriend in a lesbian relationship and never got to have any of the lesbian sex. That was certainly possible. Missing out would probably annoy anyone.

  If there was some missing element that made sense of it all, Kim couldn’t think of what it could be. Besides, she had other, more pressing concerns to consider. She had to deal with the fact that she’d become a victim of an alien abduction and was being carried off to become a mostly unwilling participant of hours of hot lesbian sex more or less against her will.

  Yeah, it sounds pretty horrible, doesn’t it Kimmie?

  "Look, we don’t even have a bed," Kim protested, starting to get desperate. "How can you expect us to make love if there isn’t even a bed?"

  Angel eased the door open with her foot, revealing a fully refurbished office space dominated by a king size bed which stretched from one side of the room to the other. Rose petals were scattered on its sheets.

  "Oh," Kim whispered. That explained the mysterious delivery, the whatever-it-was wrapped in plastic. She never even considered it could have been a bed.

  After being set down, Kim wasted no time scooting to the far side. Angel wasn’t exactly guarding the exit, but Kim knew her chances of getting past her ranged from slim to none. If she was going to escape this situation, she needed to be prepared and ready, alert for her window of opportunity. An actual physically open window to dive out of and escape would have been preferable, but at this point she'd take what she could get.

  Angel thought of everything. As devious plots go, it was a nice one.

  Stop admiring Angel’s amazing plot and try to think of a way out of this!

  “You’re nervous,” Angel observed.

  “Oh, really? What made you think so?”

  “The evidence is clear. Your eyes are crazed, for one.”

  “They’re wild, not crazed.”

  “Regardless, they keep darting about. Your breathing has quickened. All these suggest nervousness.”

  “Who wouldn’t be nervous at a time like this?”

  Angel sighed. "I anticipated this. If you’re nervous, we don't have to do this right away. I have no intention of doing anything against your will.”

  Kim blinked at her. “You what?”

  “Would you like a massage, instead?"

  “Are you serious? After all that, you’d settle for giving me a massage?"

  Angel nodded. “We don’t have to rush headlong into the conclusion. I’m willing to provide you an alternative you could accept. A nice, relaxing massage."

  “When did you learn how?”

  "I’ve seen instructional videos on the internet."

  Given what she fully expected to happen, Kim didn’t see a reason to argue. The suggestion seemed innocent enough. "Okay. What should I do?"

  "First, take off your clothes. Then lie down."

  Relieved and thinking she’d effectively dodged a bullet, Kim complied. All she knew about massages was that they weren’t directly related to sex. If they had been, she felt certain she would've heard something about it.

  Her clothes were set aside, but Kim balked at removing her bra and panties. "All of it?"

  "Yes. All of it. Lie face down on the bed."

  Kim did as instructed. This was an acceptable compromise. Angel wasn’t blatantly trying to seduce her. She could do this. Better than the alternative.

  After Kim made herself comfortable, Angel surprised her by draping Kim's shirt over her butt in an attempt to preserve modesty. Kind of a joke, Kim thought, but she didn’t question it.

  As Angel began
her work, Kim tried to hold on to her apprehension, but it was a losing battle. Her concerns died away as Angel expertly kneaded the muscles of her neck, then her shoulders and back and slowly progressed down her legs. Kim quickly realized the shirt was only a guideline. Angel’s hands strayed at its borders, but not alarmingly so.

  Despite herself, Kim felt herself relaxing. It felt good. Wonderful, in fact. Admittedly, she never had a massage before, but there was nothing blatantly sexual about it and that was the most important thing.

  Kim was a gooey mass of relaxed contentment when Angel tapped her side and made a circular motion with her fingers, prompting her to switch positions. Kim complied with the request without comment. Her breasts were now prominently on display, which caused her to feel a hint of her earlier apprehension, but Angel’s professionalism quelled those fears. The shirt was draped over her groin.

  Angel worked on Kim’s arms one after the other, then her neck and down to her stomach and back to her legs again. She grew concerned as Angel began to massage further up the inside of her legs, but soon relaxed as Angel’s hands never ventured beneath the shirt.

  Kim closed her eyes, enjoying the pleasant sensations. Angel’s hands returned to her shoulders and chest, and she couldn’t help but notice Angel was being extra careful to avoid touching her breasts. They drew close, and this being Angel, Kim kept expected her hands to accidentally stray, but they never did.

  "What do you think so far?" asked Angel, the hands never stopping.

  "You’re very good. Although, I kept expecting you to massage my breasts."

  "According to the instructional video, I’m supposed to.”

  Kim opened her eyes to look at her.

  Angel gave a ghost of a smile. “I thought it best to leave it out,” she explained. “I assumed you weren’t aware of the practice, and I didn’t wish to alarm you without cause."

  Kim hadn’t known that. She closed her eyes again.

  Angel’s fingers continued their dance, then her voice grew lower, more sensual. "But as you were expecting it..."

  It took Kim a few seconds to catch on, but by the time she did, it was already too late. Angel’s hands were already there.