–Finally. Let me think something for you, Mar-
–Why don't we get rid of the "sticky" rule? I think that it is fairer that we just pick the person we want to challenge…
–Are we getting dangerous, Boonchuy?
Anne grinned, deviating her gaze.
–Maybe, Waybright… But… What do you say Mar-Mar? Mar-Mar!
Mars was focused on rolling a joint; their attention was focused on the grinder, spinning it hard.
–Oh, excuse me! It is a tradition.
–Do you just smoke and drink at your gatherings?
–And we draw. What was the question you have asked, Anne?
They put the grinder in their bag.
–Eh… Could we remove the "sticky" rule?
–Oh, sure. It is fairer if we can choose who to embarrass, instead of going in just one direction…
Anne gave another sip to her beer.
—Then, it is lifted. Sasha, do the honors.
The solemn smile that the psychologist sported didn't tell off her true intentions. Her words were the ones who made Anne brace herself for the worst:
–Anne. Truth or Dare?
–Well, I'll choose… "Dare".
After caressing the shin with extreme measure, Sasha proposed:
–Perfect. I'll let you choose between two choices then; you take off your t-shirt for the rest of the night or… You let me leave a "tag" made by myself on your underbelly. Mars, do you have a washable marker?
–Oh! Sounds interesting! Here, I have a black one.
From their backpack, they retrieved a somewhat slippery marker.
–I'm sorry for the oil… I have left some essences for my vape that spilled in my bag…
The explanation they offered didn't sound sincere; it was like they practiced it several times in front of a mirror. Already between her fingers, it didn't slip, but it had a pungent odor and a sticky sliminess…
–Ta-take off one piece of clothing? Or let you drawing a… "tag" under my navel? Waybright, do you want to heat the atmosphere even more?
Her smile didn't accompany her apparent nervousness; the alcohol and the way Sasha and Mars drove the party had woken up in Anne some doubts that have been dormant for years.
–Maybe, Boonchuy. But… why should my proposals heat the atmosphere?
Moments away from taking off the t-shirt that she used to work, Anne thought better her answer and replied:
–Well… Why do you want to draw your "tag" in a really low place? Do you really want the ones who see me know that "you were" there?
But the smile on Sasha mellowed for some moments, as if she was remembering some sort of treasured, tender memory. Soon she got back to her proud mischief, answering teasingly:
–Well, my cheek once layed down there… That's something, right? Anyways, I can propose another dares if you wish-
–Draw me you "tag" down there, then.
Mars almost spat their beer swig when they heard Anne's decision. They weren't watching two friends fooling around with high stakes bets, but two women that wanted to make up for the time lost.
–Fine. Roll up your t-shirt and lay down on the bed.
Having finished her can, Anne went to her bed and layed on it. There, she rolled up the lower part of her t-shirt, baring her tummy. As Mars like Sasha were surprised seeing the few tan lines and hormonal patches over her skin. No tattoo nor piercing defiled that healthy body.
–Aw, you look like a baby, Anne. Have you never done a tattoo before? I could book a session if you want…
–Thanks, Mars. I have never… I had considered it previously, but I never could decide where I would want it… I think on the arm or on the back would look nice for the first one, but… Well, at least this tattoo will wash away later.
–Try not to move your hips. The pen will be a bit cold, so brace for impact.
The contact with the pen wasn't the only thing to make Anne uncomfortable, but also the pen movement over the canvas that her lower belly was. Sasha tried to make the trace as slow and comfortable as possible, without applying pressure over the skin nor pass her by and tickling her.
Sasha's head was pretty close to her, inhaling and exhaling over the drawing area. The pen glided down, getting dangerously closer to her pubis.
–By the way, I need that you to unfasten your shorts, Anne. I don't want to soil them with ink.
Anne, noticing the risk of ruining her best shorts for the job, decided to obey her. It didn't matter to her if her friends could see the upper part of her panties…
–Wow, Boonchuy. The pattern on your panties is pretty cute.
The cats drawn on the white fabric were the ones that any kawaii cartoonist would do. Their expressions did denote some innocence; they took several references from old animes. Mars identified some that they saw on Hunter x Hunter, some others from Inuyasha and others from Osomatsu-san.
–Can I take a picture of the pattern, Anne?
–Mars, please…
But her friend was already standing beside Sasha, who tried to concentrate on her "tag". The second "S" of her name was close to being finished when she did a wrong turn. Licking her thumb and passing it over through the ill drawn part, she was able to correct her mistake.
Mars was able to slip in their phone between Sasha's arms, focusing on the panties' pattern.
–Can I take a picture, Anne?
–Is it for future references, Mar-Mar?
–Sure!
–Go ahead, then.
While they took their time focusing, Sasha had put the marker on her mouth. She could recognize the flavor, but she didn't know where it came from; she never had use a vaporizer to smoke. Yet, she left it in her mouth some moments more.
–Done!
Mars succeeded in taking a their picture, but their attention deviated to Sasha's oral fixation. They tried to say something, but only could smile in a way we might describe as creepy.
Having the space around cleared, Sasha returned to the mark.
–How long should this take, doctor?
–We are already by the second "S". Two more characters and we are done.
Anne tilted her head over to watch her friends while she complied with her dare. Some brief peaceful moments before the thought that might have changed the course of the night.
"Is that how Sasha would look sucking me up?".
The problem of that idea was that it made itself clearer; she imagined how she held the psychologist's hair while she sucked on her member.
"Would she do it right, would she be terrible on it? Would she insist on playing with my butt?".
Any variation made difficult for Anne to concentrate and clear her head from those ideas. Then, what she feared the most happened; her panties felt tighter. Precisely due to an incipient erection.
Sasha, on her part, was just finishing the scribble of the "H" when she perceived a really unfamiliar odor. Nevertheless, she was able to place its origin; the panties not only were bulging each time a bit more, but also there was a tiny wet spot on the tip of it.
Having identified what was happening -although not all of its reasons-, Sasha couldn't stop herself from patting Anne's belly.
She questioned herself if she was the reason why her friend was acting this way or if it was only the contact with the marker on her skin. Some memories came back to her mind where Anne had similar experiences, but it was the first time she felt something else, beyond being uncomfortable with Anne.
"How would her sex taste like?".
She felt the drool ball in her mouth and her tongue tingling. She barely could acknowledge that she finished the second "A". It was then when she shook briefly her head to set aside her fantasies. Gazing to her eyes, she zipped the shorts and said:
–We are done. If you want, you could… you could look at the "tattoo" in the mirror…
–Sash… I…
But Sasha held one of her hands with hers, smiling sheepishly. She kissed it tenderly. Anne felt a quite familiar void invading her belly, one that she hadn't felt since what she thought it was an eternity…
Mars looked at them with suspicion. They weren't like they remember them in their childhood…
"Well, they always were closer, leaving me aside… But that blushing… Those held gazes… I'm smelling a toad here".
During the whole dare, Mars might have been focusing on Anne panties' pattern or the form that Sasha's "tag" was taking. But the things they learnt back in Amphibia made them realize those precise details on their relationship.
It gave them an idea, which might prove their darkest suspicions…
–Shall we continue, girls?
The question broke the trance with which Sasha and Anne remembered old sensations unconsciously. The psychologist helped the herpetologist to stand up and sat on her former position. The birthday girl, on the other hand, went to see herself in the mirror and appreciate the work her friend had done.
If she knew anything about hentai, she would recognize on the tattoo a marking, signaling her as a mere trophy.
The cartoonist, on the other hand, had rummaged in their backpack to retrieve from it a huge grinder.
–Girls, wanna smoke?
–Smoke what? –asked the psychologist, surprised.
–Smoke? –questioned the birthday girl, suspicious.
Mars smiled.
–Sasha knows what I'm talking about. But I have a bit of mango tobacco, cinnamon and… Ta-dah! Homegrown Tutankhamun!
A couple of tobacco envelopes and one bag with some cannabis buds were released from their bag.
–Mar-Mar! I didn't know that you smoked this.
–I think that we better not smoke… This room doesn't air well, even with the windows opened…
–Really? But that window is on the street…
–The wind usually comes to this direction. And it doesn't do a quick circuit; it drives all the smoke towards the door.
–Man, that sucks.
Despite the warning, Mars had already put a couple of flowers on the top of the grinder, which they had recovered from their bag's bottom. By closing the lid, a small rustle could be heard; the buds were indeed dry.
Looking nervously towards the grinder, Anne reminded:
–Mars, it's your turn. Remember; you may ask whoever you want-
–Then I'll ask you, Anne. Truth or Dare?
–Dare.
–Wow, Boonchuy. You are quite daring tonight…
–Well, I don't think that Mars-
–Anne, French kiss Sasha for ten seconds.
Once more they sat in silence after someone from the group uttered some words. They could only hear the grinding of the mill; Mars had already gotten used to the stoner lifestyle. Once having loaded the grinder, the natural step was to continue the process until it's very end; a marihuana joint.
Nevertheless, when Mars turned their gaze from their hands, they smiled suspiciously; despite avoiding staring at each other after formulating the dare, Sasha and Anne failed miserably, blushing even more after each passing try.
–Remember, Anne. You could ask another thing any moment now…
–Sasha… Do you want to…?
Mars had never seen Anne nervously asking anything to someone. The way in which she arched and made finger guns was only something they've seen from some friends who wanted to flirt with them.
–Are you afraid of that old fireplace igniting once more, Boonchuy?
"Old fireplace!? Wouldn't she mean to…? What was the meaning of all this!?"
–Oh, Waybright. Always quite the elusive one, aren't-?
–Come here.
Grabbing her from the t-shirt, Sasha got Anne closer to her mouth and gave her a small brief contact left Anne heavily breathing, but her smile gave off her willingness to continue. Soonly, her hands cupped Sasha's cheeks and gave her another kiss.
After some tentatively closing ins, their lips met each other applying all the necessary ingredients; tongue, excessive saliva and warm rasp breaths.
Sasha's hands quickly caressed the sides and back of the herpetologist, adding some tender nibbles to her lips. Those surprised her for some instant, but soon left her right hand on her face while the left one went down to "second basing" over the jacket the psychologist's left breast.
–Girls… Remember, they're only ten seconds…
Form Mars, that kiss wasn't a simple dare nor the blooming of some repressed feelings due to years of discord; it was a reencounter. Their caresses, even a bit clumsy, didn't show uncomfortableness nor mechanicality, but they flowed throughout their whole contours of their chests and breasts.
Despite the moans, gasps and grunts was everything they both could hear, the comic drawer had realized some distant percussion by the aisle.
–Girls… Someone is coming.
Anne and Sasha took a few seconds to attend their friend's warning. They looked at each other stunned, still linked by a drool thread hanging from their wetted lips. Their breaths offered an interesting image of what their crotches were experiencing.
–Anne? Girls? I brought you some snacks.
Oum Boonchuy's voice went through Anne's bedroom door, making the women arrange themselves and distancing from one each other. Getting their clothes into place and checking anything on them that might accuse them, Sasha sat in her place while the birthday girl answered the door.
–Mom, hi! Thanks for the snacks, we are fine…
–Uf, what a halite! I suspected that you would go to have fun, but I didn't think that… Sasha, Mars! What a big surprise! Girls? I meant fellas! How have you been doing?
The woman had entered into the room and left on Anne's desk -at least on a cleared corner of the crowded table- the tray with snacks. Sasha and Mars had gotten up to hug her and salute her with a kiss on the cheek, although both did so at the same time.
–Mistress Boonchuy! How things have been here lately?
–Mistress Boonchuy! So much time without seeing you!
She hugged and kissed them back, surrounding them with her arms.
—Mars, how have you been doing in your city! What can you tell?
–I've been managing quite well. Do you know my webcomic "Divided Friendships"?
–Anne shares with me some vignettes once in a while, Mars. What about your job at the school, Sash? Did you manage to be hired?
–Yeah, Mrs. B. My little patients are quite cute, but it isn't easy for them to trust me… How has Mr. B been doing? Could he pass the new LoL campaign?
–Uf, you don't know how hard he was screaming at the screen, Sash! They're weeks before…
Mars smiled while they listened to the conversation about the game. It has been a few years since they haven't checked with Anne's mother and those brief moments brought them back to an age when they were just them three. Inseparable, yet indulgent when they fed their codependency…
–And Mars, do you still see your parents?
–Of course, Mrs. B…
They tried to answer confidently that question, widening their smile and finger gunning while winking one eye at her. Nevertheless, the birthday girl's mother arched one eyebrow while her jovial grin stretched a bit. Even if it made them embarrassed, they continued:
–I mean, I see them twice a year, Mrs. Boonchuy.
–I'm glad to hear that. Is everything ok with them?
–Su-sure. At least my dad can stop his shift when I go to visit them. And, since I tend to stay for one or two weeks… It is then when he takes his holidays. And my mom bakes me ube frosted cupcakes every time I get back home.
–Fantastic! Send them my regards, ok-? Well, hello there!
Having already unwrapped herself from Sasha and Mars embrace, her slipper had turn over the grinder and some beer cans over the room's rug. Mars froze in the act. Sasha, on the other hand, smiled shamefully, hiding her hands behind her waist.
–Mom… We weren't going to… We were just drinking…
–Anne, you know quite well that your room doesn't ventilate quite well and your father and I want to sleep just fine. Tomorrow will be a busy day… And we will celebrate your birthday…
–I know mom-
–If you want to smoke without leaving traces, you can go to my former exercising room…
–Really, mom? I mean… I don't know what to say…
–Happy birthday, kiddo. Enjoy this celebration with your friends. Only… Don't be noisy, please?
–Mrs. B, could you help me to park the car inside the garage, if it isn't bothersome?
–Sure! I should go downstairs to look for something as well. We will get back soon, kids.
Packing their grinder and buds, Mars waited for the woman and their friend exiting the room for them to walk into the exercising room. Although not without glancing occasionally towards Anne, keeping it up on the aisle and getting inside the hall.
But when they turned their gaze towards the door frame after opening the door, they were millimeters away of a Anne shaped mannequin.
–Ah, shit!
The fright had made them lose balance, although they found support on Anne's arms. The blush on their cheeks was met with a nervous smile from the herpetologist. Yet, the silence didn't last long:
–What… What is it?
–I should've known better… It's just that, when we went to Amphibia, my mom didn't find another way to cope with my departure… But that.
–Making "clones" of you?
–Believe me, you never saw this room in its worst moments. It's like I had a stalker like Helga Pataki…
–I see.
Having already stood up correctly, Mars watched attentive its surroundings, scrutinizing the few paintings that were still hanging on the walls, the busts over some boxes and the mannequins still adorned with wigs and implements that symbolized ideal professions.
Anne felt for some instants her energy draining out and some nostalgia. Collecting one tear that had began to roll down her cheek, she looked at her friend, who took their hand to their chest as if they both were a magnet and a fridge, respectively. They breathed slowly and ignored the wet traces that went down their face.
But after a deep breath and wipe off the tears, Mars said to Anne:
–I'm going after Sasha stuff, I won't take too long.
–Mars… I'm coming with you.
But Sasha had taken her purse to have her car keys on hand, as they noticed when they entered Anne's room. The birthday girl took the snacks since she was there and walked slowly to the saloon that her mother had facilitated.
Once inside, Mars mused:
–Anne… What was that kiss?
The herpetologist turnt her gaze to the cartoonist, who stood by the door frame. She expected from her friend an accomplice smile or a playful voice tone. Yet, their eyes seemed to beg her for an answer, at the same time where the lips dammed a pain inside their shirr. Anne glanced to her side, trying to earn some time in order to cook the slightest answer… Mars suspected a detail that they didn't know with certainty and she wouldn't betray their trust with a lie…
But…
–Thanks Mrs. B for helping me taking inside the car! It was pretty generous of you to park your vehicle for mine to get inside the garage…
–Oh, Sash! That way I'm leaving on an easier state of mind. You already know that the chance makes the robber…
Sasha carried a duffel bag besides her purse. Anne supposed that it was her pajamas, not giving it too much attention. Her mother, on the other hand, carried a small jar in her hands. Both women had already gotten to the second floor when they noticed the herpetologist and the cartoonist presence.
–Ah, kids! You are already here. Open the windows right now, before the smoke stays inside. Anne, come here for a moment.
While Sasha and Mars made haste to open the windows, Oum handed Anne the tiny jar. When she could look at it closer, she could see its contents; a couple of thick, generous flowers. The young woman attempted to open the lid there, but her mother took her hand and pointing out:
–Open it when you closed the door, ok? Happy birthday, Anne. See you tomorrow.
A kiss on the forehead and on the cheek and then a cheerful goodbye to the group were enough for the woman to go down the stairs.
–Have a good time, kids! See you tomorrow and don't be too noisy!
–Bye bye, Mrs. B!
–Goodnight, Mrs. Boonchuy!
Hearing each step creak farther, Anne closed the door gently. When she turned towards her friends, she opened the jar. The heavy citracal notes, mixed with the heavy THC flakes flooded the room in seconds. Anne and Sasha felt intoxicated just from the aroma, but Mars breathed deeply, enjoying such scent.
–Where did your mom get that, Anne? It's delicious.
–I don't know, Mars. I believe that it's Ned who provides them occasionally…
–What nice dealer! I'll buy him some ounces before leaving… Shall we start grinding?
Anne handed them the jar and Mars took out a fraction of the marijuana flower they got out, returning it carefully. They placed the branch on the upper part of the grinder and, after unsticking it from their fingers, they unroll the joint that they had bundled previously.
–Let's "join forces", are you ok with it?
–Sure, you know this stuff better than us.
–We are going to get dumbly high.
The laughter that Sasha and Anne shared made Mars feel a certain curiosity resurfacing in their chest. Their mirth was the first one to die out, likewise their smile. And then, with a serious frown on their lips, they asked:
–What was all about that "tag" and that kiss, girls?
