Adventures In Parodyverse: Aftermath (DBS #21-#22 Add-On)

NOTE: I wasn't going to post this one because I was unsure of some of the content. But the imagery is good, so I'm posting it to keep you all busy while I finish up the epic Parodyverse story I'm working on (which was held up because I had to wait for approval on something).

Adventures In Parodyverse - Aftermath (DBS #21-22 Add-On)

    Visionary was alone again, at least temporarily, as he returned to his room at the Lair Mansion and lay on his newly repaired bed - duct tape did indeed have many uses - to stare at the ceiling wistfully. But he was not alone in his heart or mind...his encounter with Pricilla Dubois was still foremost in his mind, to the point where he ignored all of his surroundings so he could immerse himself in the memory of it. It was a rare opportunity for him, and he wanted to savor it.

    While he was savoring, though, it caused him to delay the sense of something unusual in his room. Very close, in fact. Specifically, a warmth coming from very close by.

    After he had finished running through several fantasies in his mind about Pricilla deciding to drop by and visit him unannounced, in spite of so many threats from De Brown Streak, he finally looked downward and to his left.

    He smiled as his eyes followed the feminine curves along a light blue pair of jeans up to the slight gap between his companion's untucked orange shirt and the jeans. And then along the gentle curve of the waist on up to the bust, moving up and down slowly with breathing. And then he reached the neck and chin...and realized it wasn't quite who he imagined. Yes, she had dark hair, but she was Chinese.

    "Don't you ever knock?" Visionary asked, suddenly sounding a little irritated when he realized it was Liu Xi Xian. And a little guilty that he spent a moment or so, though accidentally, admiring her female body before realizing it was her.

    "Would you answer the door if anyone did?" Liu Xi asked.

    Visionary thought for a moment, but didn't reply. She knew him better than he thought. "So why are you here this time?"

    "I thought you might want to talk," she replied softly. "Since you had sex."

    "Who told you?" Visionary sat up suddenly, and looked down at the still very calm Liu Xi.

    "I came to look for you last night," she explained. "You were not here. I assumed the date with Pricilla I heard about went very well." She shrugged. "That, and I happened to hear the discussion in Lisa's office."

    "Oh." Visionary calmed down but remained sitting up. "Does CSFB! or Hatman know?"

    "No." Liu Xi shook her head. "I'm here because...if you want to talk about it I won't make fun of you like some others will." She paused for a moment and then asked, "So how was it?"

    "Very good," he replied almost too enthusiastically. But then he worried that he might be rubbing in the fact that her last experience was a nightmare. "I mean...it was good...for me. Everyone's experience varies."

    Liu Xi looked at him coldly for a moment. "We aren't talking about my experience. We're talking about yours."

    "I don't mean to sound like Dream," Visionary told her, fidgeting nervously as he did, "But...don't you think you should...you know...think about having a new experience of your own sometime? So you're not just...you know...stuck with that awful memory?"

    Liu Xi smiled. "It's sweet that you care for me that much," she said, "But I'm not ready yet. When I am I'll be sure you tell you about my experience as well."

    "That's not necessary. Really it's not." Visionary dodged her suggestion.

    "You don't understand," Liu Xi told him. "I'm not just curious," she said. She sat up and smiled as she added, "I'm proud of you. I want to share your happiness."

    "Oh." He couldn't help but smile too. "Then yes, it was good. It made me very happy."

    "Congratulations, then." Liu Xi smiled more enthusiastically and hugged Visionary. "I'm happy for you."

    "Thanks," he replied. "I'm glad someone is," he added, referring to his near death experience with DBS earlier. "You're a pretty good friend. You always try to make me feel more confident."

    She brushed her hair back. "Everyone should," she suggested. "You're very sensitive. You need more confidence."

    "So do you," Visionary guessed. "You're kind of shy. When you're not sneaking into my room, that is."

    "Hmm." She laughed slightly. "I guess I am." Liu Xi gave him a sly smile as she added, "Maybe now that you have so much luck you can start giving me advice."

    "Maybe." Visionary laughed at that.

    "You are in a good mood," she pointed out. "You responded with one word and didn't stutter once." She then decided to change the subject again. "So is this thing with Pricilla becoming serious?"

    Visionary thought a moment. "I'm not sure," he said. "I guess we've been out a couple times already, so maybe it is."

    "But maybe it's just sex?" she asked.

    "Maybe." he replied with a shrug.

    "I'm still proud of you." Liu Xi hugged him again. This time Visionary hugged her back, sneaking a lungful of her floral scented hair. She always smelled good, but before Pricilla he never had the courage to enjoy it. "Would you like to borrow my shampoo?" Liu Xi asked.

    Visionary reddened slightly, knowing he'd been caught. "Sorry," he said. "No, I don't want to borrow it...I just thought it smelled nice."

    "No need to be sorry," Liu Xi told him. "I don't mind." She smiled slyly and observed, "Today you do seem to be more...attentive. No...flirty."

    "Oh?" Visionary prodded.

    She nodded. "Don't worry, it doesn't bother me. It just means you're happy. I like seeing you like happy. You deserve it."

    "Thanks," he replied calmly as he lay down again and looked at the ceiling. "I feel kind of like...I'm noticing the beauty in things more now. How beautiful the sun is and its warmth on my face. This mansion and it's ancient architecture." He glanced at Liu Xi again and added, "And how beautiful a young woman can be even in jeans. Not that I...I mean, I'm just...appreciating it is all."

    "Don't slip up now," Liu Xi warned him jokingly, "You almost had the non-stuttering thing down." She tilted her head slightly and asked him, "So you like beauty?"

    "Who doesn't?" he asked.

    Liu Xi took his hand gently and pulled his arm until he was sitting up. "Follow me," she urged him.

    She opened the closet door and bright light streamed in. Light so bright that Visionary couldn't see beyond the glare even as he shielded his eyes. He could smell something faint, exhilarating, and could hear sounds in the distance.

    "Follow me," she repeated. She left her shoes and socks behind and stepped into the closet.

---

    Visionary had momentary vertigo as the interior of his closet gave way to a deserted sandy beach. Waves spilled over the sand from a wide expanse of ocean going on forever to the horizon. The sun floated high above the distant water, leaving the water shining and the sand sparkling below. It was hot on that beach, but not too hot - a gentle breeze cooled him and Liu Xi nicely.

    He stood in the sand in his bare feet enjoying the view, and noting a smiling Liu Xi standing nearby. "Is this real?" he asked. He then came to a sudden realization. "I didn't bring any swim trunks."

    "Remember being a kid?" Liu Xi asked. "How you sometimes needed a refreshing splash in a lake but you didn't always carry swim trunks with you?"

    "I never swam as a kid," Visionary replied. "I don't know if I want to strip down to my underwear in front of--"

    "Tch. You just travelled thousands of miles in the blink of an eye," Liu Xi scolded him. "Don't be a coward now. Underwear is just like a bathing suit without a fancy design." To prove her point she quickly stripped off her own shirt and jeans to expose her black colored underwear and ran off toward the water.

    "But...wait..." Visionary mumbled, "Don't leave me here!" He sighed and closed his eyes as he stripped off his own clothing and ran off to catch up with Liu Xi.

    "Now wasn't that easy?" she asked him once he was chest-deep in water.

    "I guess." He shrugged as he tried to look away from Liu Xi, trying his best not to appreciate what he saw too much. "But now I...um...the water's warm and the...uh...scenery was so...nice...I can't get out of the water now, for a little while anyway."

    She giggled and gave him a gentle shove. "Visionary...your big secret? It's not such a secret to me, no matter how much clothing you wear."

    "Secret?" he asked.

    Liu Xi smiled slyly. "You may be the sweetest, most careful and sensitive man in the Legion," she said, "But you are also the most sexual. Don't think I don't notice."

    "Wait...what?" he protested. "No! Come on, everyone has more sex than me."

    "Exactly," she replied. "You think it's something you shouldn't be allowed to have, so it's something of dreams and fantasy to you. And that scares you because you think you're the only one, and you're some kind of deviant. But you're not."

    Visionary floated there, stunned, unable to speak a word.

    "You're perfectly normal," she said, her voice lowered to a whisper. "The reason you are afraid to leave the water? Perhaps I feel the same thing, only it's not physically obvious. You're not Josh or Lisa, and neither am I, so it means nothing. If it always meant something I would have several children by now and so would you. It's normal for you to be sexual. Your true friends understand that."

    He took a deep breath, letting the embarassment he felt drain away. She really had this annoying tendency to make perfect sense even in the most outrageous of circumstances. "I guess when I think about it, Ebony wears less clothing daily than you're wearing now." He smiled.

    Liu Xi laughed and nodded. "There you go. Now do you understand why I brought you here?"

    He nodded. "You thought I needed to loosen up a bit."

    "I want you to loosen up around me. After you see me like this, and we play in the water a bit like kids...maybe you won't be afraid to say anything to me anymore." She splashed him with a wave of water to punctuate that last part.

    Visionary splashed her back. "Oh, now you're going to get it."

    Their laughter echoed for miles as the surf then erupted into a violent splashing contest between friends. No one would hear them out there. They had hundreds of miles to play in all by themselves.

---

    "I'm very sorry," Liu Xi apologized again as she returned Visionary carefully to his room. While they had fun playing in the surf far away from the Lair Mansion, neither of them realized what Visionary was in for until they returned and cleaned up. Unlike Liu Xi's olive Asian skin, Visionary's skin was pale, thin, and prone to sunburn.

    And burn he did. He walked as if his knees, shoulders, and elbows had ceased to function. He was afraid to smile or turn his head. And every time he sat down, stood, or lay down, he whimpered ever so quietly. "It was worth it," he whispered faintly - his lips were burned too. "I had a lot of fun. I didn't know you could have that much fun in underwear."

    Visionary hadn't bothered dressing again after his cool shower - he was in underwear and a soft terry-cloth robe which was sticking to his burned skin.

    "Will you let me help?" Liu Xi asked.

    "How can you?" Visionary sighed. He heard the sound of a plastic bottle with liquid in it shaking violently, and then a plastic top popping off. He turned his head painfully and saw Liu Xi opening a clear plastic bottle with some sort of clear fluid in it. "What's that?"

    "Just lie still." She kneeled next to him on the bed and gently peeled away the top part of his robe. As soon as she applied the liquid Visionary audibly sighed.

    "This is heavenly," he whispered as the burning soothed quickly. "You're going to make an excellent girlfriend for someone someday."

    She giggled. "Thank you," she replied. "I couldn't stand to see you hurt so much," she told him. "This has to be applied three times a day. I'll do it if you wish."

    Visionary looked at her and smiled. "Can I have a bottle of that?" he asked.

    Liu Xi gave him a warm smile. "You can have this one," she replied. She already guessed why he asked - he wanted to see if he could encourage Pricilla to apply it.

    "Thanks," he replied as he put his head back on the bed and savored the soothing feeling on the liquid on his badly burned skin. "What is that stuff anyway?"

    "Peppermint," she whispered. "Mixed with some other things. It lasts longer than skin moisturizers. And you'll smell good too."

    "It's nice," he said. "Very nice." He looked up again. "Thanks for the wonderful evening, Liu Xi, but I really feel sleepy now."

    She stopped rubbing the liquid on him and closed the bottle, leaving it behind on the night stand. "Good night, Visionary," she said. "If you need anything at all let me know."

    "I will," Visionary replied in a whisper as he drifted off into blissful sleep.

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2005 by Jason Froikin, and may not be
-- reprinted without permission.
-- Liu Xi Xian is (C) 2005 by Jason Froikin, all rights reserved
-- All other characters property of their respective owners

Post By Anime Jason wasn't going to post this but since it is unfinished story week... Sat Sep 10, 2005 at 04:36:08 pm EDT	Subject Adventures In Parodyverse: Aftermath (DBS #21-#22 Add-On)

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