Misc Stories Part 1

Jane’s Aura Exploration

You are Jane, and you’re deep in a cave, meditating to unlock your aura potential. It’s been days of darkness and consuming mostly only water.

Yes. This is the time when enlightenment comes. This is the moment. You can feel it. You’ve been pushing yourself, starving yourself, trying to come to terms with the flaws your life has given you, and doing everything you can to master and control your hidden potential.

...
...
...

“GAH!” You can’t handle it anymore! “This is a waste of time!” Why can’t you figure this out? How hard can it be to find stupid inner peace?

You sit back down in the dark cave and try again. You try to relax.

Trying to relax. What a dumb concept! It makes you so frustrated that you could just-

You sigh. You wonder how you can be so bad at this. You’ve studied so much and consulted experts and elders. The harder you push the farther away that little spark of aura feels. You sit and decide, despite it being against most of your instincts, that you should take a break. You let your mind wander onto less important matters.

What did your grandfather mean during his battle with you? He said you were too focused on winning. Well of course! That’s what the battle was about, wasn’t it? And what’s with Herb being granted the gift to heal? That doesn’t seem like something a fraud should be able to do. And Keira can see auras, you’re pretty sure. If not, she’s a brilliant body language reader. Almost as good as yourself.

But of course he’s a fraud, because why else would he get a taste of a date with you and not fall for your obvious charms?

Ah.

Damnit.

You know why.

You clench your fists and let it all come in now. All the realities you hate to be weak against. You’re an annoying person to be around. You drive people off and can’t stop bothering everyone with your harsh attitude. You’re just the worst, most unpleasant person to be around. An old hag in a young girl’s body.

Your body isn’t even that good. Tight stomach, maybe, but hardly feminine and delicate. You have a resting angry face. You intimidate men. You’re not easy to get along with and you’re not attractive enough to be put up with.

Perhaps you could spend time studying make up and aesthetics more, and-

No. That won’t fix anything. This should be a lesson to you. You lack aura potential, you’re falling behind as a trainer, you’re a friendless, tactless oaf with no place in the world. The only one you can depend on is yourself, and you’re beginning to doubt that now too. You fall back into your mind and find, search, hope and pray for something to make that easier to handle.

...

But you can't handle it. You let go of your ego and look into why. The real reason without pretense. Why is this so important to you? Yes, you want to show up Herb and get recognition, but those are ancillary bonuses. You wouldn't go this far just for that. What is the other, truer reason that your can feel dancing around the edges of your consciousness?

You leave your thoughts behind and search your feelings. This is a place you like to avoid, but not today. It's the one rock left unturned.

Images and memories gently wash over you. You experience a shadow of what you felt when they happened, and try to understand what the source of your emotional outbursts were. At first it just seems like you're acting childish. And most of the time that's true. But there's a second sort of burning passion in some of those memories, and the pattern begins to clarify.

The different feeling that drives your passion are from memories of your pokemon. The hours of hard training and hard fights. The way the endlessly improve themselves in order to reach their best for you and the team. How inspired that makes you feel, but also how disappointed in yourself you become when you make the wrong call in a battle or train them in a way that isn’t that optimal.

They give you your best, and here you were looking for an excuse to give up because you’re a little hungry and cold.

There’s a sensation inside, like heated metal being forged into a new shape. The purity of your motivation, now that it’s clarified, is shining brightly. You will master your aura potential, such as it is, and you’re doing it for your pokemon. To be one of the team, and doing the best in your role. You’re not just convincing yourself that you’re pushing for what you would consider a noble reason. You know it’s true, and you take no comfort or discomfort in this fact. It just is.

Your eyes open. For the briefest of moments, you see a light in the cave fading away, and realize it was coming from you.

You’ve done it. You’ve found your way in to the start of unlocking your aura potential! You try to grasp back again for that control, but it falls between your fingers. You’ve lost it for now.

But that’s alright. You got there. You can do it again. For now; food.

Where’s Herb now?
-----------------------

Group listening to Herb plow Hana

It feels like a whole other lifetime ago when you got to hang out with the gang. Oh, you missed them. Even Jane. And Abigail seems....well, she’s provocative but you think that’s just her way. It doesn’t bother you. You like people that can loosen things up a bit, even if she rustles some feathers. You wish you could be half as fearless. Even with the contest competitors, you could never manage to be brave. You just panic.

There’s a muffled giggle and thump in the other room. Sounds like Herb and Hana are playing around. You can even hear them over the muted conversation that Abigail and Keira are having while you and Laki try to sleep in your shared bed.

Laki’s eyes open. You assumed she’d try something or at least tease you a little, but to your surprise, and maybe a little disappointment, she hasn’t. Not that you really want her to, but at the same time it’s not like you hate the attention or feeling wanted. And you guess it’s sort of gotten a reaction from you before. But you’d never do anything of course, even if she were single. Nope. You’re still reeling from how much you and Hana shared before. That’s a slippery slope you risk falling down.

Laki’s eyes move towards the sounds, as if she’s trying to see them better.

“I forgot it was her birthday.” Laki confesses quietly. “Otherwise I’d be in there too.”

“Oh.”  You aren’t sure what to say. There’s a long pause before you finally come out with what you want to ask. “Does it bother you? I mean, that they're sharing a bed together without you?”

Laki adjusts so she’s facing up instead of towards you. She’s hogging the blankets by doing that, so you move in closer. “If it were almost anyone else, yeah, probably. But I think I get Hana.”

There’s a loud, unmistakable erotic moan that leaks through the walls.

Laki continues. “I respect anyone willing to fight like she did.  And she might hold a lot back, but she isn’t the type to lie or manipulate to get what she wants.” Her eyes dart around a little, like she’s deep in thought. “What Hana wants isn’t complicated. And how she gets what she wants is honest. She wouldn’t stab me in the back, even if she saw a reason to.”

“You don’t think she’d see a reason to?” You don’t, obviously, but you’re not sharing a man with another girl. You’re just asking to try to understand. You’ve seen jealousy spring up over absolutely nothing, let alone something like this. Heck, you’re feeling a tinge of jealousy over Hana yourself.

Laki smiles, turns over to face away from you, and pushes you back with her large, womanly hips just a little. Oh wow, those are wide! “Nah. I think I have a good handle on how she works. Hana’s a good girl.”

“I’m so bad! Punish me, sir!” A muffled scream comes from the other room.

Everyone exchanges a look. Nobody can pretend they didn’t hear that. Everybody looks around and makes eye contact, but nobody says anything. Okay, you just need to come up with something less awkward to talk about so-

“She’s gotta be faking it, right?” Jane asks.

“Hana? No way. She can’t act. She’d just mumble something dumb, make a funny face when she realized how she sounds, and then apologize.” Laki says, to Abigail's intense amusement.

“She would, too!” Abigail rolls over, holding her sides. “She’d be all ‘Oh Herb, thanks for that dicking. Sorry about making it awkward with all that noise.’” Abigial can’t control herself and flops onto the floor while snickering. You see a strange bonding moment between her and Laki.

You feel the need to say something. “Guys, come on. Hana’s had a hard life.”

A bit of a sobering comes over the group. Keira looks almost disappointed in herself. “Valerie is right. Laki never asked for this. Her family situation is something I don’t think I could ever deal with. When you think about how young she was when she lost her parents...”

“Oh yeah daddy. Make me your good girl!” The muffled voice yells over the soft thumping.

The vortex of silence lasts only for a moment as the room, including yourself, bursts into laughter. You feel guilty and worried they’ll hear but you can’t stop. There’s just something about trying not to laugh that makes everyone laugh harder.

“You people are disgusting.” Jane announces before rolling over to go to sleep. You can’t see her eyes, but you get the feeling that she’s not asleep at all. Her face looks a little red, so she’s probably trying to contain it too.

Eventually the laughing gives way to light snickering and wiping away tears, but the muffled thumping and moans from the other room continue.

“...is it that good?” Keira asks. “That she’d say all those things? I’ve seen people when they misuse meditation drugs and they can act like that sometimes. They mumble all sorts of things that sound crazy but they’re so...taken by the way they feel that they don’t even realize how they sound.” Keira fidgets. “I know I’ve gotten a little strange using meditative aids.”

Abigail opens her mouth to make a joke at Keira’s expense, but loses her moment when another very loud moan pierces the room. That sounded like the finish.

Laki has been thinking about how to answer the question. She turns away from Keira, scooches back into the bed, and gives you this look; it’s...well, it makes you uncomfortable in a way you’re a little ashamed to admit that you like. “It can be, Keira.”

“Oh listen to little ms. expert here.” Abigail butts in. “You’re like a week into it and acting like an expert.”

Laki shoots up. “Maybe we’re all not giving it away like fireheaded floozies.”

Abigail turns angry, and her face scrunches up. It’s sort of cute, it a childlike way. It’s hard to believe that she’s the oldest here. “I’m as pure as the driven snow!”

“That’s just your complexion.” Jane shoots.

The three of them have a staring contest. You sigh. You’re getting fed up with the constant bickering. But your attention is taken by something else. “Umm, guys. Is Gardevoir alright?”

Gardevoir’s face is slowly morphing from an upset look to a funny one.

Everyone turns to look at her. “What is she...”

The thumping starts again.

“Come on!”

“Boo!”

Everyone throws pillows or other soft things at the wall. You don’t even think Herb and Hana heard it. But after that, the mood seems to be improved. Everyone talks and hangs out until they get tired.

And you guess in your sleepiness, you ask a dumb question. “Keira, are they...is this um, kosher, for them to do in a temple?”

The background noise that is Herb and Hana in the other room is still there when everyone stops talking. Keira smiles. “Nope! Not in the Grass temple. They help couples rekindle their love life and are big on fertility. Newlyweds are encouraged to come here for their first wedding night, and the Grass temple is a major part of the fertility ritual.”

“Fertility ritual?”

Keira, despite her disappointed attitude and crises, really does seem to enjoy teaching your about her religion. She’d make a good instructor or teacher. Well, you suppose that is sort of her job. “Yes! Normally in our history the region tries to keep the population down, but not always. Sometimes we need to repopulate, or just bless all fertility like the fish stocks and farms. Or we just want to make sure there’s a healthy boost for the next generation. In those times we find a suitable male, someone spiritually accomplished, healthy, strong, that sort of thing. Someone we want the next generation to be more like. We had a really fat guy for the last time we were trying to do the ritual for the farms!” She giggles. “I just saw a picture. It was a generation ago. Huh. I suppose we’re due, aren’t we?” She waves the thought away as you hear Hana come to another screaming fit. “Anyway, the male is partnered with a volunteer with a lot of the same qualities. Someone spiritual, healthy, accomplished, a good demeanor that you’d want for the children, sma-”

“Like you!” You blurt out.

Keira may have facepaint on, but you know she’s blushing under there. “I-I suppose. It would close me off from some places, but open seas to my sail.” That’s the first time you’ve heard that expression, but you get the general meaning. “I couldn’t do that though! Who knows whose baby I’d end up with?” She shakes her head, throwing the thoughts off of her like Herdier shakes water away. The sounds from the other room are growing louder, more violent. “What were we talking about again? Oh yeah. To answer your question, no, they’re not doing anything blasphemous.”

The sounds from the other room are reaching another crescendo just as everyone else goes quiet again. Thump thump thump.

“Nothing blasphemous.” Keira repeats, holding up a finger.

“Oh God. Oh gods!” Hana yells. It’s much louder now. You suspect she must have been biting a pillow before and now she’s lost it. “YOUR DICK IS MY GOD!”

“A little blasphemous.” Keira says blankly, not fully processing it.

“That’s it.” Jane throws her blanket off and storms to the door connecting the two rooms. “I’m putting an end to this.”

Everyone tries to reach out and stop her, but you’re all too late. She throws open the door.

And you all see it. Hana, with her butt in the air, being just mercilessly pounded by Herb. Both of them are sweaty, tired, but going strong. Hana’s eyes are rolled up into the back of her head and Herb’s eyes are closed.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou Aaaahawwwwwwesoooooooommme!” Hana yells. Under any other circumstances you’d laugh until you cried, but the hot, sweaty nakedness of her body, the smell, the way she grinds her teeth, the oddly hypnotic twitching movement of her organic body as she climaxes while her robotic parts oddly and dispassionately keep her balanced, it all comes together into an image captivates you. The way Herb’s chest is slick with sweat and his muscles strains as he buries himself deep into her and makes the most satisfied face in the world turns you silent.

Laki very quietly and slowly closes the door. “You idiots.” She whispers.

“Y-yeah. We shouldn’t peak.” Abigail didn’t sound very honest, but it did sound stunned.

“It’s not right.” Jane adds. “I just meant to yell at them so they’d-”

“Not that!” Laki whispers harshly. “You let Hana know she’s being watched and she’ll go for another round! Now go to bed! Everyone!”

And so you do. Everyone gets back to their beds, wraps their blankets around themselves, and falls asleep. You close your eyes and wait for sleep to take you too.

Quietly, softly, the thumping begins again.