"I'm scared. Like actually scared," Mae muttered miserably as they sat in the waiting room together.
"It'll be okay," he replied, holding her hand.
"Yeah, you've got this Mae. You just gotta get your vitals taken and answer questions," Bea said, holding her other hand. "And...do you remember what we agreed on about that?"
"Yes," Mae replied, sighing, "I'll tell the truth. I know it's in my best interest."
"Good. And remember, this was Ann's doctor when she lived here, and Ann said she was pretty decent."
"Yeah…"
"We'll be here, Mae."
"I wish you could come in with me," she muttered.
"Me too, but they're weird about that unless you're family or married…" Trent said.
"Such bullshit," Bea muttered.
"Yep," Mae agreed miserably.
The door to the doctor's area opened up and a nurse stepped out. "Mae?"
She sighed heavily. "Here I go."
"We'll be right here, Mae," Trent said.
She nodded, took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then walked over to the nurse. They disappeared behind the closing door.
"Jeez, she really is worked up over this," Bea muttered.
"Yeah. I feel for her."
They fell silent, given they were in a waiting room and although it was sparsely populated, they weren't alone. Instead, they pulled out their phones and began messing around. Trent found his mind wandering.
It had been about a week and a half since his (hopefully) final encounter with Chris, and things had been...well, very run-of-the-mill.
He had finally wrapped up production on Demontower I, approving the finalized version that Tabby had sent back, so it was ready to go. Mae had gotten a cover for it worked out. It was a bit more stylized than her normal drawings, more angular, but he thought it had a simple yet visceral quality to it. An intensity. It was just black and white, with a small figure holding a sword staring up at massive tower, with lightning forking down from the sky. It was powerfully evocative and he'd honestly been surprised at Mae's abilities.
Tabby was in love with the final product. She was running the hype train now and as of the first of April, a few days ago, he had pulled down his version of the story from the net, as agreed. They had ultimately decided that it would make the most sense.
Some people were upset about that, and he couldn't really blame them, but they'd given fair warning and ultimately it was Tabby's decision.
They had a finalized release date of May first. He had also wrapped up the rough draft of book two and had sent it off for edits and revisions. And he'd been reading Cyber Wars books, doing research online, and penning the beginnings of a fan fiction for Bea. He'd been anxious about if he'd be able to produce anything, given he normally wrote horror, but he was kind of shocked as to how easy ideas came to him for what Bea wanted.
Apparently what she wanted was something kind of similar to their own life, with three characters, two women and a man, young adults, clearly analogues for herself, himself, and Mae, getting an apartment together, falling love and having wild, experimental sex, doing regular everyday things under the watchful gaze of an alien fascist government, and occasionally helping out the rebellion. He'd gone with the completely unoriginal name of Cyber Life, and for some reason that worked, and now he was a few chapters in.
Bea had finally read it yesterday, after all but demanding to once he let slip he'd written about ten thousand words so far, and she had immediately loved it.
Bea gasped beside him and he looked over and saw a look of pure joy on her face as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her earbuds.
"What?" Trent asked.
"I completely forgot, Mae's video is out today."
"Oh lord," he muttered.
"I have to hear this," she said as she plugged in the earbuds to her phone.
"Lemme hear it, too," Trent said.
He had been extremely dubious about this but after talking about it for quite awhile, everyone had ultimately agreed to it.
There had been an...incident, a few days ago.
Mae had been downstairs, recording a gaming session. Ann was out, visiting with her mom. Trent and Bea were hanging out on the couch and one thing had turned into another…
Bea and Trent both put one of the earbuds in and, after looking around, (they were in the corner and the few other people who were in the waiting area were all the way across the room), they started it up. Mae appeared on the screen. It was just the raw footage of her, given the context. She was playing Condemned now.
She was focused on the game, but a sound became apparent in the background. A specific sound. Bea moaning loudly.
At first Mae looked confused, then she took off her headphones and her eyes got wide and a huge smile split her face.
"Oh my God!" she whispered, then cackled with glee. "I have no idea if I'm gonna keep this in, probably not, because YouTube would come down on my ass, but," she said, leaning forward and looking into the camera, "that, my viewers, is the sound of my boyfriend fucking the absolute shit out of his girlfriend!"
In the distance, he could hear Bea shout: "OH MY GOD YES! FUCK ME! FUCK MY PUSSY HARDER!"
Mae laughed loudly. "Oh that's so hot," she said. "And for those of you going, 'But wait, Mayday, aren't you your boyfriend's girlfriend?' To answer that: Yes, yes I am. But we aren't plebs. He's dating another girl, one of my best friends, and I gotta say, I love hearing them having sex."
"Jeez, I sound like such a slut," Bea whispered.
In the video, she let out a prolonged shout of bliss and Trent could even hear himself grunting as he came inside of her.
"Whelp, guess it was a quickie," Mae said. "Also, just so there's no confusion or jokes: my boyfriend can last plenty long. We have fucked for an hour before." She put her headphones back on. "Anyway, back to the game." She tried to play again but within a few seconds she stopped. "Ugh, now I'm all horny. BRB, I need a quickie."
And she got up and walked away.
He remembered that, and pretty quickly, they could hear Mae shouting in pleasure.
He thought that sex session had been a little odd, she'd been noisier than usual, and then she'd revealed why after.
"That is actually, like, super hot," Bea murmured.
"Can't deny that," he said.
After Mae had revealed the video, they'd ultimately agreed to let her put it up behind a fifteen dollar donation. It wasn't a perfect plan, but-
"Whoa, dude, holy shit, look," Bea said as the video ended.
"What?" he asked.
"Her count!"
Trent looked at the amount she was making monthly now and blinked a few times, double-checking it. She had gained a few more patrons since she'd talked with Claire about it, but now it had just broken three hundred dollars a month. Bea refreshed the screen and saw it bump up to three fifteen.
"This is...um...she's gonna be really happy about this," Trent muttered.
"I think we might have an opportunity here," Bea said.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes! We'll talk with Mae about it."
"What exactly are we talking about here?"
"Just...maybe more videos like these? I mean come on, all we gotta do is what we're already doing. And it's not like it's on camera, it's just audio."
He sighed, considering it. "I...need time to think about this. I'm also absolutely shocked that you are suggesting it."
"I told you, I'm done giving a fuck, Trent. My body, my relationship, my rules." She paused. "Our rules, but you get what I'm saying. If you really don't want to do this, we don't have to. But it's an opportunity. A good one. And...come on, that's hot right? That was so hot."
"I mean yeah, it was."
"Tell me that isn't a boost to your ego."
He sighed again. "I mean, yeah, it is. Just...it feels a little irresponsible."
"I'm tired of being responsible," Bea replied.
"Mae is really rubbing off on you."
"She is. And you know what? I don't mind. A lot of dumb shit has come out of Mae's mouth, but her heart is in the right place, and she's right: I should lighten up. I should try to have fun more. I should do something stupid every now and then. And that was fun, and maybe a little stupid, but I don't care."
"I'll think about it," he replied, but Trent was pretty sure they were going to be able to talk him into this.
Bea was submissive, to a certain degree, during sex, and Ann and Mae could be, to varying degrees, but all three of them knew the sexual power they could hold over him. He considered it more, wondering about the specifics of this particular new aspect of Mae's career, as he checked over his phone, and got a text.
It was from Claire: I'm sorry.
He felt a rising sense of worry in his stomach as he responded: Why?
A pause, then: I haven't been ignoring you, I've just been really busy and miserable. And I KNOW hanging out with you would make me less miserable but I can't work up the energy.
Trent sighed softly in relief: It's okay, Claire. I'm not mad. Busy and miserable are both completely valid reasons not to hang out. But if you need me to come hang out at your place for a night, I total will.
Really? She asked.
Yes. Although I'm not completely sure if tonight will be great. We finally got Mae to her new doctor and she's not taking it well.
Oh man, I can sympathize. If you can make it over tonight, I will welcome it. We can have sex and watch a movie or something.
I'll let you know.
Thanks.
He considered that while waiting for Mae to get back. Things with Claire had not progressed like how he'd assumed they would, in that he'd hardly seen her. They'd hung out and hooked up one more time, the night after he and Bea had confronted Chris, and that had been a good night. But other than that, it had just been the occasional text. Really, he was more worried about her than upset. And if this went well, maybe he could point her towards this doctor as well.
Although he had the impression that tonight was a 'stay at home' night.
"I'm still having nightmares," Bea murmured after another few minutes.
"I'm sorry," Trent said. "About the Pickaxe?"
"Yeah. Mostly they're stupid. Like I know I have to go to work and it's a really big deal but I keep running into problems or getting lost or-ugh. Like, the situation really isn't that scary but it feels so terrifying. And then sometimes I'm in the Pickaxe and Chris is after me with a knife. That's a lot more rare, though."
"If you ever want to talk or just for someone to be awake with you, you can wake me. I know what it's like to feel all alone in the middle of the night, even if someone's sleeping next to you," he said.
"They don't ever really wake me, but I appreciate that." She frowned. "What do you mean by that? Do you mean...us? Because you know you can wake me, too, right?"
"Yeah," he said, but Bea crossed her arms.
"Trent."
"What?"
"Do not double-standard against yourself. Wake me up if you can't sleep and feel alone and scared. It's not like I gotta get up in the morning...okay?" she pressed.
"Okay, yeah. It's not even-it doesn't happen that often. Sometimes it just happens, I wake up, I can't get back to sleep. Plus, don't get me wrong, it's way better having someone there in the bed with me. Let alone a few."
"That's true. I didn't realize how much I liked sleeping in a bed with other people until I actually did it. I always got nervous, like it was going to be this big thing I'd have to get used to, and what if I didn't like sharing a bed with my boyfriend?" She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Never in a million years thought I'd have to consider sharing a bed with my boyfriend and his girlfriends. Plural. God, my life is so fucking weird now...but in a good way."
They both looked over as the door opened. Mae walked out holding some papers, looking a bit dazed.
"Hey, you okay?" Trent asked as both he and Bea stood and moved closer to her.
"Yeah," she said, "just...a lot of questions. Um…" She looked down at all the papers in her hand. One was a stack of them stapled together, the rest were a few slips of loose paper, much smaller. "Uh, I gotta go to the front desk. She wants me to come back in a month for a checkup. And then we gotta go to a pharmacy. They prescribed me some antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds to try out."
"They won't, like, cross-react will they?" Bea asked.
"No...I don't think so...I don't know...this is a lot," Mae groaned.
"Okay, come on. Let's get you to the front desk. We'll get it done, one thing at a time," Trent said, putting his arm around her shoulders.
"Thank you," she whispered.
They led her out of the waiting room and back into the front area. It didn't take long for her to get set up with the next appointment, at least. Once that was done, (and Trent punched a reminder into his calendar app), they headed back outside. It was gray and had been raining off and on all day. There was a lull at the moment. As they headed for the Jeep, Mae seemed to relax a little bit. She got into the passenger's seat while Bea climbed into the back.
"Pharmacy?" Trent asked.
"Yeah. Uh, here," Mae replied. She gave him the sheaf of papers all stapled together, flipped over. On the back, the name of a pharmacy was written.
"All right," he said, pulling out his phone and opening up Google Maps. He typed in the pharmacy and once he found it and got the route there, passed the papers back to Mae, set his phone in the cup holder, and started driving.
"God, I'm such a fucking kid," she muttered. "That was so easy, but I just-I can't right now."
"It's okay, babe," Trent said, "all of us have difficulty with things. Sometimes we'll need to help each other, and that's what relationships are about."
"We'll take care of you, Mae," Bea added.
"I'm sorry. I'm not trying to freak out, I just am."
"I get it. Mae, listen, your sex vid went live and we watched it and, Mae, you're making over three hundred a month now."
"I...what? Are you fucking with me? To try and make me feel better?"
"No! You can totally check it out yourself! Also, you were right, it was hot. Like hot. And...I was thinking maybe we should do more," Bea said.
"Wow, really?! I want to do more but-man, you are getting slutty, Bea."
"Mae!"
"Am I wrong!?"
She laughed awkwardly. "No! Just! Whatever!"
"Here, lemme see…" Mae muttered, pulling out her phone. "Are you down for it, honey?"
"I mean, sort of," he replied. "I have to think about-what's that smile about?" he asked. Mae had stopped navigating her phone and was now just staring through the windshield with a big, goofy smile on her face.
"I just...I don't know. Sometimes, calling you honey or babe, like...it reminds me that I'm in this awesome relationship. I'm in two awesome relationships. And it's just. Like. That's insane, to me. I was gonna be alone forever probably. But then you came in, and Ann. It makes me feel good in a way I hadn't before I met you."
"I'm glad, and I know exactly how you feel," Trent said. "And I love you."
"I love you, too."
"I love both of you, in different ways, and I also know how you feel," Bea said.
"It's so cool-whoa, shit! I'm over three hundred and fifty dollars a month now! Just because of that one video!?...yeah, all the latest sign ups are either people bumping up to fifteen a month or signing up new at that tier. Uh...man, this is like suddenly a lot of responsibility. I can make, like, actual money doing this. Um...should I be worried? Do I have to file different if we're peddling smut? Is this smut? I mean it'd be just us, like, making sex sounds. No one could even prove we're actually having sex," Mae said.
"I'll look into it, but I don't think we'll have to change anything. Just maybe make a few more disclaimers to cover our ass, and also let people know you are not taking it any further than this. No nudes, no porn, no nothing. Just this one little bonus thing that apparently people like."
"Yeah, that's fair. God, I can't even imagine getting nude for a camera, let alone fucking. I probably look like such a loser having sex," Mae said, laughing.
"You look pretty hot," Bea replied. "And remember, I'm straight, so I'm not super biased."
"I guess so...but still, weird."
"We're here," Trent said.
Mae sighed, losing her good cheer. "Yay, let's get my meds…"
"Do you really not want them?" Trent asked uncertainly as he parked.
"I...don't know. I'm scared. I've heard stories, and just...it's scary, is all."
"This is for the best, Mae, at least to try."
"I know."
"Did she talk to you about therapy?" Bea asked.
"Yeah. They had someone come in and ask me a lot more questions. They've got some kind of partnership with a therapy clinic or whatever it's called. They'll have to see when they can fit me in but they'll let me know...come on, let's go get these and go home. I just wanna relax now."
"Let's," Trent agreed. "You've earned it."
They got out and began heading for the pharmacy.