Chapter 20

When the alarm woke me on Saturday, I smiled. It was always a treasure to get a full night’s sleep. I stretched and then yelped in protest as someone tickled me. “Payback for the other night?” I asked Hanna, grabbing her collar playfully in the dark.

“Maybe,” she laughed. “I would never presume to torment my Master,” she said coyly, using the formal term she’d adopted for the first time.

I laughed and kissed her. “When we’re in the gym, I EXPECT torment from you. Right now though, we need a different kind of punishment.” I explained by flicking on the light, making all of us flinch at the sudden glare.

We got up and showered in a group and made plans to make a shopping trip after my class.

Visitors to the class weren’t unheard of, but they didn’t happen often and certainly not three beautiful women at once. Sifu was irritated with the performance of most of the class. “Captain Rogers is able to concentrate,” he scolded them, tapping me on the shoulder. “So should the rest of you.”

At the end of the class, he asked if I had any pictures of my costume and I retrieved my phone to show him the pictures before asking for the help I was looking for. I played the video and told him about the charity event in the spring. “I’m hoping you can help me actually learn to use the shield as much as it can be used. I know it’s not a normally studied weapon, but I hoped you might know someone I could talk to if it’s one you haven’t studied.”

He chuckled. “The shield is a time honored tool of warfare,” he said, playing the clip again. “You use it well instinctively. Shaolin does indeed use a Tengpai, a shield very similar and made of rattan. Normally this would be advanced training, but you have shown restraint in using what you already know and you are performing in this event to help others. Bring your shield next week. We will spend some time examining it and then we begin training you. I will also bring someone versed in other uses of the shield that you may find useful.”

I bowed to him and thanked him profusely, promising to bring it next week.

When we were leaving, Hanna looked interested in the class and asked a lot of questions about it. “Can I come back to watch again next week?” she wanted to know.

“Sure. If you’re interested in joining, I can arrange that instead,” I told her.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to cause a problem,” she said.

I just turned around and led her back inside to see Sifu and explained to him that she was interested in taking the class. He nodded agreeably and before we left, I had paid for her Gi and her membership fees for the month. Sifu gave me a questioning look when I was paying for things, but didn’t bring it up today.

From there, the rest of the weekend was perfectly uneventful. Hanna stretched me out twice a day, we went shopping to stock the bathroom for her and the kitchen for all of us. I also got some extra athletic clothes and a couple of pairs of quality indoor shoes.

We spent some time in the gym that afternoon and drew a lot of looks as Hanna led me around, helping me plan out a new workout routine for the goals I had in mind.

She left me alone to follow the plan and went to join the girls and do her own workout. I worked hard at it, finding the new exercises targeting muscles that I hadn’t been using as much. I liked it and fell into a routine until Hanna tapped me on the shoulder and I raised my head. I’d been in a state of semi-hypnosis and I suddenly became more aware of my body. I knew right away that I’d overdone the workout and I stopped right away.

“You okay?” she asked gently. “You were kind of hitting it like a machine.”

I nodded. “I just sort of hit a zone and got lost in it. Dance class tomorrow should be interesting.” I could feel a deep fatigue in my muscles, but I felt good and told her so. “Thanks for helping me out with this. I may have to be carried around for the rest of the night though,” I chuckled, but was only half kidding.

She patted me on the shoulder and put a towel in my hand. “Go shower and then we’ll eat and relax tonight. Emma and Zoe want to go to the movies. Plenty of time to recover in a theater”

I nodded and got showered and changed before we went out to a Thai restaurant Hanna had suggested. I’d never had Thai before, but I enjoyed it.

That night, we sat through two chick-flicks and my mood turned sour during the second movie which had a female lead who split from her boyfriend after the movie’s villain convinced her that he was cheating on her. That soured my mood, but I stopped paying attention, closing my eyes and trying to drown in my thoughts until the lights came up.

When we got back to the house, they were still talking about it and I let them until they drew me into the conversation.

“I stopped paying attention after about twenty minutes,” I admitted.

“Did you hate the movie that much?” Zoe giggled and I shook my head.

“The actors were all fine, but that breakup was a little too familiar. I checked out and started rehashing a couple of books in my head.”

They nodded and got it. “You pick the movies next time,” Emma promised me. “Honestly, that was the only part even remotely like your life in the whole movie.”

“It’s fine,” I assured her. “I’m just happy to spend time with you. We can go see whatever movie you want. I just proved I can entertain myself if the movie doesn’t suit me.”

That night ended with a serious massage from Hanna since I’d pushed myself on the workout too much. We passed on sex and just cuddled in, relaxing together in a comfortable heap. I still hadn’t seen Lilly since she’d returned home Friday. I was okay with that. Every time she touched my life lately, she wrecked something. I suddenly realized she needed her mother back, badly.

We slept in Sunday and when we woke, I was surprised at the smells of something delicious being prepared upstairs. I woke the girls and we got dressed enough to go investigate. I noticed that Hanna’s ‘dressed’ was a pair of boy-shorts and a tanktop that looked so tight it was practically skin. We filed into the kitchen where Patty was making herself at home in the kitchen.

“Take a seat,” she told us. “Everything’ll be ready in a minute.”

We sat and she started bringing plates to us with bacon and eggs, toast and home-fries.

“I’m not complaining,” I told her, “but was this just an excuse to come see us or do we have an emergency?” I took a sip of my juice and sat back, mentally prepared for whatever had happened while we were enjoying our day yesterday.

“Nothing really,” she said simply. “Lilly’s been over at our place except for bed, so I thought I’d come over here and surprise you since everything’s cleaned up at home.”

“She’s adapting to her new chores?” I asked lightly.

“She seems to be. She apologized to the girls Friday and she’s helping them out with their chores,” she told us.

I nodded, but in a detached sort of way as I dug into my brunch, eating hungrily. “I think she needs you right now,” I told her. “If you had a spare room, I’d suggest she move in full time. I think she’s acting out because she misses Charlotte.”

“That’s probably true, but short of Charlotte coming home, this is the best we can do.”

“I agree. Making her part of the household and sending her home when it’s bedtime is as good as we can do for her right now.”

“What about you, Champ?” she asked. “How are you handling things now?”

“Are you kidding? In a couple of hours, it’ll have been two whole days since someone came through the door and slapped me with a handful of dog shit for something I didn’t do. I spent all day yesterday in the best company possible and I got a call from Robert Downey Jr. Friday night to confirm he’d be here on April 2nd. For me, that’s a pretty good weekend. I also found someone to teach me how to use the shield for that event, I’m being stretched out to be able to do any of the flexibility tests I might need to do and I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life. I’m pissed at my sister for being such a miserable cunt to me, but the more time she spends next door, the less reminded of how pissed off I am.”

She nodded. “How do you feel about Charlotte returning home?” she asked lightly.

“It depends on what condition she arrives home in. If she’s okay then I’ll manage. If she’s twitchy with me, but fine with Lilly, I’ll go to Donald’s and camp there until I can find a decent place of my own.”

“Still going to look at Emancipation?” she asked. I was aware of everyone listening raptly as they ate.

“Maybe. If Donald is willing to sign off on me living alone, I won’t have to. He’ll have to co-sign for an apartment just because I’m so young.”

“Just remember to keep me and Dan notified of where you are. We still worry about you.”

“I know and I will,” I promised.

The five of us cleaned up after that and they wanted to see what my dance class was like so the four of us went to that, the three of them watching from the sidelines and giggling together occasionally as they watched me put through my paces.

I told the instructor I was going to have to drop the class soon due to school commitments. I wasn’t specific about it and she nodded and said she understood, but to come back if my schedule changed and I could manage it.

After a quick dinner, Zoe and Emma had to go home to study and finish assignments. I had caught up on programming and was up to date on all my lectures, so I had nothing better to do. Hanna agreed to drop me off and we said goodbye at the restaurant with hugs and kisses that made me wish they could all come home with me.

We got in Hanna’s jeep and she looked at me with a weird smile. “Just you and me now,” she said lightly.

“What did you have in mind?” I asked with a smirk of my own.

“I have to be up early so I shouldn’t stay, but it sounds like you’ll be all alone there tonight. You gonna be okay?”

“I should be good,” I said and leaned over to kiss her. “I wouldn’t say no to company, but I’ve always got things I can do. I can catch up on Twitter postings, post another video on YouTube to update everyone and generally just prepare for the school week. If you need time to take care of things at home, do it. Your life is important. Take care of you first and I’ll still be functional when you have the time to play. We need to find a normal for us anyway.”

“What do you mean?” she asked about the normal comment.

“Thursday was AMAZING and erotic and spectacular on so many levels. It was also exhausting and we both needed a lot of aftercare outside of scene. I don’t know how often you want to do things like that or if you’re content putting it aside now that you have that collar. I suspect you’ll still want it, but I want to talk about it before I make assumptions.”

She nodded and smiled. “Well maybe not QUITE so extreme,” she allowed. “I was actually sore the whole next day.”

I nodded. “That’s totally understandable and the welts are just starting to disappear. We can talk in a lot more detail about what you want from your scenes so I can make sure you get it.”

“I want to cum,” she told me. “I want to be held down and made to cum so much that my whole body hurts from it. I want you to make me forget my own name.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem. I have a Sybian. I can just strap you onto that rocket and watch it take off.”

“You have one?! Seriously??” she gaped at me. Fortunately we were at a red light when I told her.

I nodded. “Along with all the attachments we need to make you babble incoherently,” I promised her. “Friday we’ll put you on it and see how long it takes you to scream your safeword.”

She bit her lip and growled in delight at that prospect.

“Or maybe the rest of us will just take turns fucking your face until you make us cum that much,” I suggested and she moaned.

“You keep talking like that and we’re not going to make it ‘til Friday,” she warned.

I chuckled and backed off. “So now that we’ve gotten to the point where I’m worthy of your submission, our scenes can take on a softer tone for the most part?” I asked.

She nodded. “Every so often I’ll want that, but not regularly. It was ... intense.”

“Would it be bragging to tell you I could have done worse?” I asked lightly.

“No. I suspect that when I challenge you, I’ll be in for the ride of my life,” she said with equal parts dread and anticipation.

I nodded. “It’s amazing just how much mileage you can get out of a rubber band and a box of paper-clips,” I told her and she looked at me worriedly for the rest of the drive.

When she dropped me off, she stopped me and asked. “The paperclips, I don’t get,” she said. “The rubber band is easy, you wrap it around nipples to pinch them.”

I smiled. I hadn’t had a use for the paperclips. It was just a mental exercise to make her intrigued by what I might do with them. “The paperclips are a surprise,” I told her, getting a sudden inspiration for them if I could find ones that worked well enough. “Thanks though. I hadn’t thought of using the elastics like that.” I grinned and kissed her hard before hopping out of the jeep and leaving her there with a look of shock on her face that she’d given me more tools.

I spent the rest of the night catching up on Twitter and posting a new update video. The explanation was doing well on its own and my PayPal was even more flush as views were still pouring in from all over. I was starting to wonder how far it was going to go before people got bored of that clip. I had the shield hung up full time now and I mentioned Mark and Char every time I recorded anything new.

I read through the comments and saw a lot of specific questions and requests. I laughed at the ones that asked me to do a video without my shirt on, post my workouts and things like that. I thought about having Hanna stretch me out for one of the clips, but I thought that might be something for March to lead up to it.

When I went to bed, I smiled. I could smell sex off my sheets. It didn’t fill me with a sense of loss and I thought it was a perfect way to end the weekend.

The most exciting thing that happened Monday was cheerleading practice. I met Tricia before school and after lunch, but I was on my own for the rest of the day until I got to the gym. I changed and went out to the mats to start stretching out as much as I could without a partner. I went over to the side of the bleachers and used them to push the rest of my stretches. Not nearly as good as Hanna grinning with sadistic glee while she shoved me deeper into the stretch, but it worked out as well as I could have asked for.

When I was done, I had an audience. I turned around and not only was the coach eyeing me, but both the JV and varsity squads were paying full attention.

“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to hold everyone up.”

“No,” the coach said, a little distractedly. “That’s okay. You can hold me up any time.” That got some laughter from the girls and brought her around. She looked at them sharply and then looked back at me. “What do you even use a stretch routine like that for?” she asked, trying to cover what she’d said.

“Ballet,” I told her without thinking. FUCK! Why did I say that. “Fuck, my mouth,” I said in horror. FUCK! Why would I say THAT in a room with Lana Powers of all fucking people?!!?

“Me first,” one of the JV girls said brightly and they were all laughing.

Lana was looking at me like she’d never seen me before. “I knew you were in dance, but you never told me that you were taking ballet.”

“I’m not, but my trainer turned me onto the stretch for flexibility,” I told her, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

“You need to be more flexible than THAT?” the coach asked.

“I’ve got a ... thing coming up in the spring. It’s April 2nd and it’s for charity. It’s kind of a big deal for me. I need to find a gymnastics coach that can do something with me before the end of March and then I’m pretty much set.”

“How much gymnastics do you really need?” she asked.

“Enough to make Chris Evans look bad,” I answered and explained what was going on. Most of the girls knew and they nodded when the coach looked skeptical. One of the girls ran and got her phone and showed her the video and Twitter. I was surprised to see that she was following me on Twitter. I wondered how many of the other students were.

“I think we can help you out here some,” the coach told me and then told us all to get to work.

I was playing catch-up and was getting a lot more attention as I had less time to get everything down than the others did. The JV cheer squad consisted of seven girls and me. The Varsity team was slightly larger at ten girls.

Much to my surprise, I was enjoying it. It was a good workout, the tumbling was interesting and I was surrounded by girls that I was supposed to be grabbing. Some days, life was good.

I went back to the locker room and got changed, deciding to get showered at home. I was about to leave the gym when the coach yelled for me from the upper level where her office was. I climbed the stairs and joined her at her office. “Everything okay?” I asked, curious about why she’d called me up.

“Stellar,” she said and sat me down. “That stretch ... Do you think you can help some of the girls with that?” she asked me.

“I needed some pretty extensive care after I did it the first several times,” I told her, thinking about the ice baths and the massages I’d had from the girls. “I suppose I could, but it wouldn’t just be a matter of ratcheting out the limbs and then walking away.”

“I’ve had enough of the girls ask me about it to make it something for us to consider,” she said. “What did you end up doing to stay limber afterwards?”

“Ice baths followed by massages both at night and again the next morning,” I said to her.

“You know how to give a proper massage?” she asked, looking at me blandly. She’d had experience dealing with perverts and she thought she smelled a rat.