5.25 – Suggestions

5.25 – Suggestions

The food arrived, and Zoey enjoyed a conversation and a meal with Maddy, keeping topics light while learning more about her. She gave what she could about her own past, as she had with Delta and Rosalie, but there wasn’t much—mostly because Zoey purposefully steered her thoughts away from those topics. Even without knowing who her family was, she could feel homesickness creeping up. If she tried and succeeded to unearth her past, she was scared of how it might affect her. Besides, she ought to be focused on her task in this world.

Eventually, with their plates cleaned and dinner coming to an end, the conversation returned to where it had gone at the start. Maddy joining the team. The most relevant subject of tonight, from a bigger-picture perspective.

“So,” Zoey said. “The barrier’s still up, right?”

“Of course.”

“About you joining, then. Us bonding. We should talk about that.”

“Yeah. We should." Maddy coughed. “Just, um, I guess it’s a bit weird, out in public.”

Zoey raised an eyebrow. "Is it? I was under the impression you’ve gotten up to much worse while out and about."

“What?” Maddy asked, eyes widening. “Rosalie told you?”

Zoey paused. “Rosalie? What?”

“She didn’t?”

“You told me,” Zoey said. “Or I teased you about it, and you were really obvious.” Back when Maddy had insisted that Zoey didn’t leave the training room to ‘recharge’. “What happened with Rosalie?”

“N-Never mind. It doesn't matter.”

“Actually, she mentioned something about it, last night,” Zoey said. “You two got up to something?”

“We didn’t get up to anything,” Maddy said. “Just—I ran into her. Um. It’s—it’s really something I shouldn’t talk about. Ask her.”

“Okay?”

“We weren’t involved. I came to her rescue.”

“Her rescue?”

Maddy shook her head rapidly, blushing as she did. “Really. Not my story to tell.”

Zoey was doubly interested, now. What did it mean that Maddy had ‘come to Rosalie’s rescue’?

“Okay,” Zoey said slowly, “Anyway, you joining us. You’ve made your mind up?”

“Huh.” Zoey considered that. “The messing with your head stuff is kind of weird.”

"Most people don't like mental effects, I know. I don’t have the most controversial class in the world, but it’s up there. People don’t like their thoughts being played with.” Maddy seemed to have come to terms with how her class was perceived, since she didn’t seem bothered. “Why do you ask?”

Zoey looked around the restaurant. “I was putting together a plan.”

“Oh?”

“Gauging what we could get away with.”

“Get ... away with?”

“I mean, we need to Bond, right? And you have a thing for being out in public.”

“I don’t have a thing for it,” Maddy said. “Just, what kind of illusionist wouldn’t think about what it's like? Or try it out. It’s a perfectly natural curiosity. If you could do something like that, I bet you would.”

“You’re right. I would. And I can, right now, since I have an illusionist with me. How convenient.”

Maddy hesitated. She looked around. Almost all the tables were full. They were tucked off the the side, but they still had several parties near them.

“R-Really?” Maddy whispered. “You—you want to? Here? Now?”

Zoey’s smile widened. She’d been testing the water with the suggestion, but by how Maddy’s gray eyes had widened, and how she had started breathing faster, she could tell that for all Maddy’s protests she was excited by the idea. Her claim that she didn’t have a thing for it was plainly a lie. Though Zoey had already guessed that.

“You should probably put up as strong of an illusion as you have,” Zoey said. “Because I have a feeling I'll get carried away.”

Maddy swallowed, then, again, looked around the restaurant, scoping out their surroundings. No one was paying attention to them, but regardless, Maddy looked nearly panicked—in an excited way. Zoey’s own heart slammed in her chest. She’d done this in a dream before, with Kali, but that had been a dream. She was really planning on pleasuring Maddy out in the open? In the middle of a busy restaurant?

She would be worried about how Maddy’s eyes skittered around the room in concern, but the anxiety of being caught was what made the event so exciting. And, despite Maddy’s obvious tenseness, she started tracing a glowing spell into the table—more than happy to fulfill Zoey’s request.

“I’ll make it so they think we’re just having dinner and chatting,” Maddy said. “That’s the suggestion. If we deviate too much, they’ll get suspicious. Can't leave the table. And if there’s any other wayfarers, they'll have more of a chance to see through things.”

“Better hope there isn’t, I guess,” Zoey said, subtly scanning the room and especially the tables nearest them. Her heart had already been slamming, but it picked up further. Blood flowed downward, and her pants stiffened, no longer able to contain her excitement. She hadn’t brought her portal panties to this date, so her pants quickly filled out, her fourteen-inch member straining against fabric. Zoey shifted awkwardly in place. Maddy blushed, eyes flicking down, though the table blocked her sight. She knew what was happening. Hardly difficult to figure out.

The spell activated, and the circle disappeared. “There,” Maddy said. “It’s active. So. What did you ... have planned?”

Zoey locked eyes with her. A smile crept onto her lips.

Stress testing. That was what she had planned. How far could Zoey stress Maddy's 'suggestion' without getting caught?